Search results for "albedo"

Sensitivity of UVER enhancement to broken liquid water clouds: A Monte Carlo approach

2016

The study uses a Monte Carlo radiative transfer model to examine the sensitivity of the UV erythemal radiation (UVER) enhancement to broken liquid water clouds of the cumulus and stratocumulus type. The model uses monochromatic radiation at 310 nm corresponding approximately to the peak of the product between irradiance and the erythemal curve. All scattering, absorption, extinction coefficients, and spectral albedos are tuned to this wavelength. In order of importance, fractional cloud cover, the area of individual cloud patches, and cloud thickness exert a strong influence on the enhancement, with smaller contributions from cloud optical depth, cloud base height, and solar zenith angle. I…

The ratio of primary scattering to total scattering of sky radiance

1974

Recently Eschelbach has computed from theory spectral radiance values for a turbid atmosphere taking into account the effect of multiple scattering. In the present work these computational data were used to investigate the ratio of primary to total scattering. This quotient is a measure of multiple scattering because of the relation: Total Scattering (TS) is equal to Primary Scattering (PS) plus Multiple Scattering (MS), i.e. PS/TS = 100 - MS/TS (%). It is discussed in which way multiple scattering in the solar almucantar depends on the solar elevation, turbidity, scattering angle, wavelength and albedo. The present work shows in which way multiple scattering is related to the optical thick…

Collocated measurements of boundary layer cloud microphysical and radiative properties: A feasibility study

2010

[1] First data from collocated, helicopter-based measurements of boundary layer cloud microphysical properties (effective droplet radius Reff, droplet number concentration N) and spectral radiative quantities (cloud optical thickness τ, cloud top albedo ρ, reflectivity ) are presented. The in situ measurements of the microphysical cloud properties were collected by the Airborne Cloud Turbulence Observation System (ACTOS) attached to a helicopter by a 145 m long rope. Cloud spectral reflectivity was derived from radiances measured by grating spectrometers combined with downward looking optical inlets installed underneath the helicopter. Correlations between cloud microphysics and reflected r…

Column aerosol optical properties and aerosol radiative forcing during a serious haze-fog month over North China Plain in 2013 based on ground-based …

2014

In January 2013, North China Plain experienced several serious haze events. Cimel sunphotometer measurements at seven sites over rural, suburban and urban regions of North China Plain from 1 to 30 January 2013 were used to further our understanding of spatial-temporal variation of aerosol optical parameters and aerosol radiative forcing (ARF). It was found that Aerosol Optical Depth at 500 nm (AOD500 nm) during non-pollution periods at all stations was lower than 0.30 and increased significantly to greater than 1.00 as pollution events developed. The Angstrom exponent (Alpha) was larger than 0.80 for all stations most of the time. AOD500 nm averages increased from north to south during both…

2021

Abstract Terrestrial Essential Climate Variables, known as terrestrial ECVs, are key sources of information for both application- and scientific- oriented research. A large number of global terrestrial ECV products have been derived from satellite observations, and more are forthcoming. To unlock the full potential of these products, end-users need to know their uncertainties and error magnitudes. Due to the lack of conformity among validation strategies, a wide range of validation approaches have been employed to assess the quality of these products, and have resulted in reduced comparability even for the same terrestrial ECV. Addressing this challenge in validation practices requires the …

A simple algorithm to estimate evapotranspiration from DAIS data: Application to the DAISEX campaigns

2005

DOI:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.03.027; The knowledge of evapotranspiration is of great interest in many applications such as assessing irrigation water use. In this paper, a methodology is presented to estimate evapotranspiration using the surface energy balance model S-SEBI (Simplified Surface Energy Balance Index) and the evaporative fraction. The method is applicable under the assumptions of constant atmospheric conditions and sufficient wet and dry pixels over the image. The model uses remotely sensed parameters such as albedo, MSAVI (Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index) and surface temperature and emissivity images. The methodology has been applied over the Barrax test site, located in…

Simultaneous retrieval of global scale Vegetation Optical Depth, surface roughness, and soil moisture using X-band AMSR-E observations

2019

Abstract The radiative transfer scheme implemented for the retrieval of soil moisture from passive microwaves is a function of scattering, polarization mixing and attenuation effects of soil and vegetation. Theses factors are usually represented by Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD), vegetation scattering albedo, and surface roughness parameter, along with soil moisture. The VOD is the degree to which vegetation attenuates the microwave radiation. It has generally the dominant effect from vegetation, whereas scattering is negligible and close to zero. The surface roughness (which varies in space but not much in time) is until recently, often assumed to be a global constant. In this work, we att…

The 2017 May 20 stellar occultation by the elongated centaur (95626) 2002 GZ32

2021

Full list of authors: Santos-Sanz, P.; Ortiz, J. L.; Sicardy, B.; Benedetti-Rossi, G.; Morales, N.; Fernández-Valenzuela, E.; Duffard, R.; Iglesias-Marzoa, R.; Lamadrid, J. L.; Maícas, N.; Pérez, L.; Gazeas, K.; Guirado, J. C.; Peris, V.; Ballesteros, F. J.; Organero, F.; Ana-Hernández, L.; Fonseca, F.; Alvarez-Candal, A.; Jiménez-Teja, Y. Vara-Lubiano, M.; Braga-Ribas, F.; Camargo, J. I. B.; Desmars, J.; Assafin, M.; Vieira-Martins, R.; Alikakos, J.; Boutet, M.; Bretton, M.; Carbognani, A.; Charmandaris, V.; Ciabattari, F.; Delincak, P.; Fuambuena Leiva, A.; González, H.; Haymes, T.; Hellmich, S.; Horbowicz, J.; Jennings, M.; Kattentidt, B.; Kiss, Cs; Komžík, R.; Lecacheux, J.; Marciniak, …

2018

Abstract. During the summertime, dust from the Sahara can be efficiently transported westwards within the Saharan air layer (SAL). This can lead to high aerosol loadings being observed above a relatively clean marine boundary layer (MBL) in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. These dust layers can impart significant radiative effects through strong visible and IR light absorption and scattering, and can also have indirect impacts by altering cloud properties. The processing of the dust aerosol can result in changes in both direct and indirect radiative effects, leading to significant uncertainty in climate prediction in this region. During August 2015, measurements of aerosol and cloud properties …

Impact of dust and smoke mixing on column-integrated aerosol properties from observations during a severe wildfire episode over Valencia (Spain)

2017

The most destructive wildfire experienced in Spain since 2004 occurred close to Valencia in summer 2012. A total of 48.500ha were affected by two wildfires, which were mostly active during 29-30 June. The fresh smoke plume was detected at the Burjassot measurement station simultaneously to a severe dust episode. We propose an empirical method to evaluate the dust and smoke mixing and its impact on the microphysical and optical properties. For this, we combine direct-sun measurements with a Cimel CE-318 sun-photometer with an inversion methodology, and the Mie theory to derive the column-integrated size distribution, single scattering albedo (SSA) and asymmetry parameter (g). The mixing of d…