Search results for "Sphere"
showing 10 items of 2121 documents
Recovering Surface Temperature and Emissivity from Thermal Infrared Multispectral Data
1998
Abstract In 1992 Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) data were acquired from the NASA C-130 aircraft over the Sahelian region of West Africa as part of the Hydrological and Atmospheric Pilot Experiment in the Sahel (HAPEX). TIMS measures the radiation from the surface modified by the atmosphere in six channels located between 8 mm and 12.5 μm in the thermal infrared. By using a variety of techniques it is possible to extract both the surface temperature and surface emissivity from the areas over which TIMS data were acquired. One such technique was tested with the data acquired during this experiment. Several TIMS images of both the east and west central sites on 2 and 4 September…
Long-term accuracy assessment of land surface temperatures derived from the Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer
2012
Abstract The accuracy of land surface temperatures (LSTs) derived from the Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) was assessed in a test site in Valencia, Spain from 2002 to 2008. AATSR LSTs were directly compared with concurrent ground measurements over homogeneous, full-vegetated rice fields in the conventional temperature-based (T-based) method. We also applied the new radiance-based (R-based) method over bare soil and water surfaces, where ground LST measurements were not available. In the R-based method, ground LSTs are simulated from AATSR brightness temperatures in the 11 μm band and radiative transfer simulations using surface emissivity data and atmospheric water vapor an…
Daytime aerosol extinction profiles from the combination of CALIOP profiles and AERONET products
2018
Abstract. The solar background illumination has a strong effect on CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) measurements, leading to a decrease in the signal-to-noise ratio of the lidar signal. Because of this, CALIOP level 2 data algorithms might be limited in the retrieval of the properties of the aerosols in the atmosphere. In this work, we present a methodology that combines CALIOP level 1 data with AERONET (Aerosol RObotic NETwork) measurements to retrieve aerosol extinction profiles and lidar ratios in daytime conditions. In this way, we fulfill a two-fold objective: first, we obtain more accurate daytime aerosol information; second, we supplement column integrated me…
Estimation of atmospheric water vapour content from direct measurements of radiance in the thermal infrared region
2012
Atmospheric water vapour content is a required parameter in thermal infrared (TIR) to carry out processes such as atmospheric correction or retrieving atmospheric factors (downwelling or upwelling irradiance, transmittance of the atmosphere and so on). This study proposes an alternative method to the ones already in use to measure water vapour content from direct measurements of downwelling atmospheric radiance in the TIR range. It was possible to estimate a linear relationship between atmospheric water vapour and downwelling atmospheric radiance using a simulated study, based on data from a radiosounding database. A subsequent validation concludes that it is possible to obtain water vapour…
Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM): State of the Art
2014
Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) mission is an ESA pay load which will be installed in the Columbus module of the International Space Station (ISS). ASIM is optimized to the observation and monitoring of luminescent phenomena in the upper atmosphere, the so called Transient Luminous Event (TLEs) and Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes(TGFs). Both TLEs and TGFs have been discovered recently (past two decades) and opened a new field of research in high energetic phenomena in the atmosphere. We will review the capabilities of ASIM and how it will help researchers to gain deeper knowledge of TGFs, TLEs, their inter-relationship and how they are linked to severe thunderstorms and the pheno…
Biomethylation in the Southern Ocean and its contribution to the geochemical cycle of trace elements in Antarctica
2001
Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on biomethylation, which is a chemical process that leads to volatile alkylated compounds of elements, and is the only substantial alkylation process for some heavy metals in the environment. Volatile compounds dissolved in the ocean are transferred into the atmosphere. This is an important mechanism in the geochemical cycle of elements that contributes significantly to the global distribution of individual substances. Most of the methylated compounds are not very stable in the atmosphere because they can decompose. Antarctica and its surrounding polar ocean is one of the few areas on earth that is not directly influenced by anthropogenic sources and, …
Thermal remote sensing of land surface temperature from satellites: Current status and future prospects
1995
Abstract In this paper we review the current status for deriving land surface temperatures (LSTs) by remote sensing from satellites in the thermal infrared. Because of its widespread use and global applicability, we concentrate on the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The theoretical framework and methodologies used to derive LSTs are reviewed and amplified. Practical algorithms are described and their accuracy and application critically evaluated through sensitivity studies and by inter‐comparison. The important effects of the atmosphere, surface emissivity and instrument noise are considered and the current practice for removing these effects is specified. The accuracy cur…
Inadvertent climate modification due to anthropogenic lead
2009
Atmospheric particles are thought to initiate the majority of terrestrial precipitation. Field-based measurements of ice-crystal residues, together with controlled environment experiments on artificial clouds, suggest that anthropogenic lead-containing particles are among the most efficient ice-forming substances in the atmosphere.
Global Warming: Human Intervention in World Climate
2010
In the preceding chapter, we described climate changes that have occurred over very long geological periods. We concluded that Earth is currently in an interglacial interval within a rather long period of glaciations. Indeed, average carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have been slowly decreasing over the past 600,000 years, with accompanying cooling (Fig. 6.3). There have been, of course, many periodic changes in the CO2 concentrations and average temperature over this period (see Fig. 7.1). However, very recently, something quite unique and startling has occurred. As Fig. 7.1 shows, there has been a remarkable increase in CO2 levels, actually during the past 200 years, from 28…
On the atmospheric dependence of the split-window equation for land surface temperature
1994
Abstract A split-window equation is derived for land surface temperature, yielding T = T4 + A(T4 − T5) + B(e), where T is the true surface temperature, T4 and T5 are the brightness temperatures measured in AVHRR channels 4 and 5, A is a coefficient related to the atmospheric transmittances in AVHRR channels 4 and 5, being dependent on the atmosphere type and independent on surface emissivity, and B(e) takes into account the emissivity effect, which depends on both the channel surface emissivities (e4 and e5) and the atmosphere type. The atmospheric dependence of split-window coefficients, A and B(e), is discussed by means of satellite measurements simulations and in situ data. It is shown t…