Radiative Transfer Modeling for the CLAMS Experiment

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 1053-1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhonghai Jin ◽  
Thomas P. Charlock ◽  
Ken Rutledge ◽  
Glenn Cota ◽  
Ralph Kahn ◽  
...  

Abstract Spectral and broadband radiances and irradiances (fluxes) were measured from surface, airborne, and spaceborne platforms in the Chesapeake Lighthouse and Aircraft Measurements for Satellites (CLAMS) campaign. The radiation data obtained on the 4 clear days over ocean during CLAMS are analyzed here with the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Radiative Transfer (COART) model. The model is successively compared with observations of broadband fluxes and albedos near the ocean surface from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Ocean Validation Experiment (COVE) sea platform and a low-level OV-10 aircraft, of near-surface spectral albedos from COVE and OV-10, of broadband radiances at multiple angles and inferred top-of-atmosphere (TOA) fluxes from CERES, and of spectral radiances at multiple angles from Airborne Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR), or “AirMISR,” at 20-km altidude. The radiation measurements from different platforms are shown to be consistent with each other and with model results. The discrepancies between the model and observations at the surface are less than 10 W m−2 for downwelling and 2 W m−2 for upwelling fluxes. The model–observation discrepancies for shortwave ocean albedo are less than 8%; some discrepancies in spectral albedo are larger but less than 20%. The discrepancies between low-altitude aircraft and surface measurements are somewhat larger than those between the model and the surface measurements; the former are due to the effects of differences in height, aircraft pitch and roll, and the noise of spatial and temporal variations of atmospheric and oceanic properties. The discrepancy between the model and the CERES observations for the upwelling radiance is 5.9% for all angles; this is reduced to 4.9% if observations within 15° of the sun-glint angle are excluded. The measurements and model agree on the principal impacts that ocean optical properties have on upwelling radiation at low levels in the atmosphere. Wind-driven surface roughness significantly affects the upwelling radiances measured by aircraft and satellites at small sun-glint angles, especially in the near-infrared channel of MISR. Intercomparisons of various measurements and the model show that most of the radiation observations in CLAMS are robust, and that the coupled radiative transfer model used here accurately treats scattering and absorption processes in both the air and the water.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Babak Jahani ◽  
Hendrik Andersen ◽  
Josep Calbó ◽  
Josep-Abel González ◽  
Jan Cermak

Abstract. This study presents an approach for quantification of cloud-aerosol transition zone broadband longwave radiative effects at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) during daytime over the ocean, based on satellite observations and radiative transfer simulation. Specifically, we used several products from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and CERES (Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System) sensors for identification and selection of CERES footprints with horizontally homogeneous transition zone and clear-sky conditions. For the selected transition zone footprints, radiative effect was calculated as the difference between the instantaneous CERES TOA upwelling broadband longwave radiance observations and corresponding clear-sky radiance simulations. The clear-sky radiances were simulated using the Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer model fed by the hourly ERA5 reanalysis (fifth generation ECMWF reanalysis) atmospheric and surface data. The CERES radiance observations corresponding to the clear-sky footprints detected were also used for validating the simulated clear-sky radiances. We tested this approach using the radiative measurements made by the MODIS and CERES instruments onboard Aqua platform over the south-eastern Atlantic Ocean during August 2010. For the studied period and domain, transition zone radiative effect (given in flux units) is on average equal to 8.0 ± 3.7 W m−2 (heating effect; median: 5.4 W m−2), although cases with radiative effects as large as 50 W m−2 were found.


2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1091-1106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred G. Rose ◽  
David A. Rutan ◽  
Thomas Charlock ◽  
G. Louis Smith ◽  
Seiji Kato

Abstract NASA’s Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) project is responsible for operation and data processing of observations from scanning radiometers on board the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), Terra, Aqua, and Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellites. The clouds and radiative swath (CRS) CERES data product contains irradiances computed using a radiative transfer model for nearly all CERES footprints in addition to top-of-atmosphere (TOA) irradiances derived from observed radiances by CERES instruments. This paper describes a method to constrain computed irradiances by CERES-derived TOA irradiances using Lagrangian multipliers. Radiative transfer model inputs include profiles of atmospheric temperature, humidity, aerosols and ozone, surface temperature and albedo, and up to two sets of cloud properties for a CERES footprint. Those inputs are adjusted depending on predefined uncertainties to match computed TOA and CERES-derived TOA irradiance. Because CERES instantaneous irradiances for an individual footprint also include uncertainties, primarily due to the conversion of radiance to irradiance using anisotropic directional models, the degree of the constraint depends on CERES-derived TOA irradiance as well. As a result of adjustment, TOA computed-minus-observed standard deviations are reduced from 8 to 4 W m−2 for longwave irradiance and from 15 to 6 W m−2 for shortwave irradiance. While agreement of computed TOA with CERES-derived irradiances improves, comparisons with surface observations show that model constrainment to the TOA does not reduce computation bias error at the surface. After constrainment, shortwave down at the surface has an increased bias (standard deviation) of 1% (0.5%) and longwave increases by 0.2% (0.1%). Clear-sky changes are negligible.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanyu Wang ◽  
Rui Lyu ◽  
Xin Xie ◽  
Meijin Huang ◽  
Junshi Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract. Atmospheric aerosols play a crucial role in regional radiative budgets. Previous studies on clear-sky aerosol direct radiative forcing (ADRF) have mainly been limited to site-scale observations or model simulations for short-term cases, and long-term distributions of ADRF in China has not been portrayed yet. In this study, an accurate fine-resolution ADRF estimate at the surface was proposed. Multiplatform datasets, including satellite (Terra and Aqua) and reanalysis datasets, served as inputs to the Santa Barbara Discrete Atmospheric Radiative Transfer (SBDART) model for ADRF simulation with consideration of the aerosol vertical profile over East China during 2000–2016. Specifically, single scattering albedo (SSA) from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Application, version 2 (MERRA-2) was validated with sunphotometers over East China. The gridded asymmetry parameter (ASY) was then simulated by matching the calculated top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiative fluxes from the radiative transfer model with satellite observations (Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES)). The high correlation and small discrepancy (6–8 W m-2) between simulated and observed radiative fluxes at three sites (Baoshan, Fuzhou, and Yong'an) indicated that ADRF retrieval is feasible and has high accuracy over East China. Then this method was applied in each grid of East China and the overall picture of ADRF distributions over East China during 2000–2016 was displayed. ADRF ranges from −220 to −20 W m-2, and annual mean ADRF is −100.21 W m-2, implying that aerosols have strong cooling effect at the surface during past 16 years. Finally, uncertainty analysis was also evaluated. Our method provides the long-term ADRF distribution over East China for the first time, with highlighting the importance of aerosol radiative impact under the climate change.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Celesti ◽  
Khelvi Biriukova ◽  
Petya K. E. Campbell ◽  
Ilaria Cesana ◽  
Sergio Cogliati ◽  
...  

<p>Remote sensing of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is of growing interest for the scientific community due to the inherent link of SIF with vegetation photosynthetic activity. An increasing number of in situ and airborne fluorescence spectrometers has been deployed worldwide to advance the understanding and usage of SIF for ecosystem studies. Particularly, a number of sites has been instrumented with the FloX (J&B Hyperspectral Devices, Germany), an automated instrument that houses two high resolution spectrometers covering the visible and near infrared spectral regions, one specifically optimized for fluorescence retrieval, the other for plant trait estimation.</p><p>In this contribution we explore the feasibility to consistently retrieve plant traits and SIF from canopy level FloX measurements through the numerical inversion of a light version of the SCOPE model. The optimization approach was specifically adapted to work with the high- frequency time series produced by the FloX. In this context, a strategy for optimal retrieval of plant traits at daily scale is discussed, together with the implementation of an emulator of the radiative transfer model in the retrieval scheme. The retrieval strategy was applied to site measurements across Europe and the US that span a variety of natural and agricultural ecosystems.</p><p>The full spectrum of canopy SIF, the fluorescence quantum efficiency, and main plant traits controlling light absorption and reabsorption were retrieved concurrently and evaluated over the growing season in comparison with site-specific ancillary data. Improvements and challenges of this method compared to other retrievals are discussed, together with the potential of applying a similar retrieval scheme to airborne datasets acquired with e.g. the HyPlant sensor, or the reconfigured “FLEX mode” data acquired with the recently launched Sentinel-3B during its commissioning phase.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (22) ◽  
pp. 13559-13572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel H. Cusworth ◽  
Loretta J. Mickley ◽  
Eric M. Leibensperger ◽  
Michael J. Iacono

Abstract. In situ surface observations show that downward surface solar radiation (SWdn) over the central and southeastern United States (US) has increased by 0.58–1.0 Wm−2 a−1 over the 2000–2014 time frame, simultaneously with reductions in US aerosol optical depth (AOD) of 3.3–5.0  ×  10−3 a−1. Establishing a link between these two trends, however, is challenging due to complex interactions between aerosols, clouds, and radiation. Here we investigate the clear-sky aerosol–radiation effects of decreasing US aerosols on SWdn and other surface variables by applying a one-dimensional radiative transfer to 2000–2014 measurements of AOD at two Surface Radiation Budget Network (SURFRAD) sites in the central and southeastern United States. Observations characterized as clear-sky may in fact include the effects of thin cirrus clouds, and we consider these effects by imposing satellite data from the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) into the radiative transfer model. The model predicts that 2000–2014 trends in aerosols may have driven clear-sky SWdn trends of +1.35 Wm−2 a−1 at Goodwin Creek, MS, and +0.93 Wm−2 a−1 at Bondville, IL. While these results are consistent in sign with observed trends, a cross-validated multivariate regression analysis shows that AOD reproduces 20–26 % of the seasonal (June–September, JJAS) variability in clear-sky direct and diffuse SWdn at Bondville, IL, but none of the JJAS variability at Goodwin Creek, MS. Using in situ soil and surface flux measurements from the Ameriflux network and Illinois Climate Network (ICN) together with assimilated meteorology from the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS), we find that sunnier summers tend to coincide with increased surface air temperature and soil moisture deficits in the central US. The 1990–2015 trends in the NLDAS SWdn over the central US are also of a similar magnitude to our modeled 2000–2014 clear-sky trends. Taken together, these results suggest that climate and regional hydrology in the central US are sensitive to the recent reductions in aerosol concentrations. Our work has implications for severely polluted regions outside the US, where improvements in air quality due to reductions in the aerosol burden could inadvertently pose an enhanced climate risk.


Author(s):  
S. Jay ◽  
R. Bendoula ◽  
X. Hadoux ◽  
N. Gorretta

Most methods for retrieving foliar content from hyperspectral data are well adapted either to remote-sensing scale, for which each spectral measurement has a spatial resolution ranging from a few dozen centimeters to a few hundred meters, or to leaf scale, for which an integrating sphere is required to collect the spectral data. In this study, we present a method for estimating leaf optical properties from hyperspectral images having a spatial resolution of a few millimeters or centimeters. In presence of a single light source assumed to be directional, it is shown that leaf hyperspectral measurements can be related to the directional hemispherical reflectance simulated by the PROSPECT radiative transfer model using two other parameters. The first one is a multiplicative term that is related to local leaf angle and illumination zenith angle. The second parameter is an additive specular-related term that models BRDF effects. <br><br> Our model was tested on visible and near infrared hyperspectral images of leaves of various species, that were acquired under laboratory conditions. Introducing these two additional parameters into the inversion scheme leads to improved estimation results of PROSPECT parameters when compared to original PROSPECT. In particular, the RMSE for local chlorophyll content estimation was reduced by 21% (resp. 32%) when tested on leaves placed in horizontal (resp. sloping) position. Furthermore, inverting this model provides interesting information on local leaf angle, which is a crucial parameter in classical remote-sensing.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 13373-13405 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Mayer ◽  
S. W. Hoch ◽  
C. D. Whiteman

Abstract. The MYSTIC three-dimensional Monte-Carlo radiative transfer model has been extended to simulate solar and thermal irradiances with a rigorous consideration of topography. Forward as well as backward Monte Carlo simulations are possible for arbitrarily oriented surfaces and we demonstrate that the backward Monte Carlo technique is superior to the forward method for applications involving topography, by greatly reducing the computational demands. MYSTIC is used to simulate the short- and longwave radiation fields during a clear day and night in and around Arizona's Meteor Crater, a bowl-shaped, 165-m-deep basin with a diameter of 1200 m. The simulations are made over a 4 by 4 km domain using a 10-m horizontal resolution digital elevation model and meteorological input data collected during the METCRAX (Meteor Crater Experiment) field experiment in 2006. Irradiance (or radiative flux) measurements at multiple locations inside the crater are then used to evaluate the simulations. MYSTIC is shown to realistically model the complex interactions between topography and the radiative field, resolving the effects of terrain shading, terrain exposure, and longwave surface emissions. The effects of surface temperature variations and of temperature stratification within the crater atmosphere on the near-surface longwave irradiance are then evaluated with additional simulations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
R. K. Jagpal ◽  
R. Siddiqui ◽  
S. M. Abrarov ◽  
B. M. Quine

The micro-spectrometer Argus 1000 being in space continuously monitors the sources and sinks of the trace gases. It is commonly believed that among other gases CO_2 is the major contributor causing the greenhouse effect. Argus 1000 along its orbit gathers the valuable spectral data that can be analyzed and retrieved. In this paper we present the retrieval of CO_2 gas in the near infrared window 1580 to 1620 nm by using line-by-line code GENSPECT. The retrieved Argus 1000 space data taken over British Columbia on May 31, 2010 indicates an enhancement of CO_2 by about 30%.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Wang ◽  
Arnoud Apituley ◽  
Alkiviadis Bais ◽  
Steffen Beirle ◽  
Nuria Benavent ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present the inter-comparison of delta slant column densities (SCDs) and vertical profiles of nitrous acid (HONO) derived from measurements of different MAX-DOAS instruments and using different inversion algorithms during the Second Cabauw Inter-comparison campaign for Nitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments (CINDI-2), in September 2016, at Cabauw, The Netherlands (51.97° N, 4.93° E). Systematic discrepancies of HONO delta SCDs are observed in the range of ±0.3 × 1015 molecules cm−2, which is half of the typical random discrepancy of 0.6 × 1015 molecules cm−2. For a typical high HONO delta SCD of 2 × 1015 molecules cm−2, the relative systematic and random discrepancies are about 15 % and 30 %, respectively. The inter-comparison of HONO profiles shows that both systematic and random discrepancies of HONO VCDs and near-surface volume mixing ratios (VMRs) are mostly in the range of ~ ±0.5 × 1015 molecules cm−2 and ~ ±0.1 ppb (typically ~ 20 %). Further we find that the discrepancies of the retrieved HONO profiles are dominated by discrepancies of the HONO delta SCDs. The profile retrievals only contribute to the discrepancies of the HONO profiles by ~ 5 %. However, some data sets with substantial larger discrepancies than the typical values indicate that inappropriate implementations of profile inversion algorithms and configurations of radiative transfer models in the profile retrievals can also be an important uncertainty source. In addition, estimations of measurement uncertainties of HONO dSCDs, which can significantly impact profile retrievals using the optimal estimation method, need to consider not only DOAS fit errors, but also atmospheric variability, especially for an instrument with a DOAS fit error lower than ~ 3 × 1015 molecules cm−2. The MAX-DOAS results during the CINDI-2 campaign indicate that the peak HONO levels (e.g. near-surface VMRs of ~ 0.4 ppb) often appeared in the early morning and below 0.2 km. The near-surface VMRs retrieved from the MAX-DOAS observations are compared with those measured using a co-located long-path DOAS instrument. The systematic differences are smaller than 0.15 ppb and 0.07 ppb during early morning and around noon, respectively. Since true HONO values at high altitudes are not known in the absence of real measurements, in order to evaluate the abilities of profile inversion algorithms to respond to different HONO profile shapes, we performed sensitivity studies using synthetic HONO delta SCDs simulated by a radiative transfer model with assumed HONO profiles. The tests indicate that the profile inversion algorithms based on the optimal estimation method with proper configurations can well reproduce the different HONO profile shapes. Therefore we conclude that the feature of HONO accumulated near the surface derived from MAX-DOAS measurements are expected to well represent the ambient HONO profiles.


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