Effects of sensor spatial resolution on cloud properties retrieved from imagery data

Abstract

Techniques being applied to test the sensitivity of the physical characteristics of clouds, as determined by remote sensing, to the spatial resolution of the scans are described. The sensitivity is being evaluated with an error assessment of data from the AVHRR instrument on Nimbus-7. A spatial coherence analysis is being applied to AVHRR data for a 250 sq km region in the Pacific off the Mexican coast. Errors in the derived cloud cover and radiances from which cloud-free regions and cloud-covered regions are being estimated on the basis of radiance values in pixel-sized areas.