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NASA NTRS2021

An Investigation on Seasonal and Diurnal Cycles of TOA Shortwave Radiations from DSCOVR/EPIC, CERES, MERRA-2, and ERA5

Reflected shortwave (SW) solar radiations at the top of atmosphere from Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES), Modern Era-Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2), and ECMWF Reanalysis 5th Generation (ERA5) are examined to better under-stand their differences in spatial and temporal variations (seasonal and diurnal cycle time-scale) with respect to the observations from the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite. Comparisons between two reanalyses (MERRA-2 and ERA5) and EPIC reveal that MERRA-2 has a generally larger deviation from EPIC than ERA5, in terms of the SW radiance and diurnal variability in all seasons, which can be attributed to larger cloud biases in MERRA-2. MERRA-2 produces more ice/liquid water content than ERA5 over the tropical warm pool, leading to positive SW biases in cloud and radiance, while both reanalyses underestimate the observed SW radiance from EPIC in the stratus-topped region off the western coast of US/Mexico in the boreal summer. Himalaya/Tibet region in the boreal spring/summer and the midlatitude Southern Hemisphere in the boreal winter are the regions where MERRA-2 and ERA5 deviate largely from EPIC but their deviations have the opposite sign. Vertical structures of cloud ice/liquid water content explain reasonably well these contrasting differences between the two reanalyses. As two independent observa-ions, CERES and EPIC agree well with each other in terms of the SW radiance maps, showing 2-3% mean absolute errors over the tropical-midlatitudes. The CERES-EPIC consistency further confirms that the reanalyses still have challenges in representing the SW flux and its global distribution. In the CERES-EPIC observation differences, CERES slightly overestimates the diurnal cycle (as a function of local solar time) of the observed EPIC irradiance in the morning and underestimates in the after-noon, while the opposite is the case in the reanalyses.

Reflected shortwave radiance↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Surface and Atmospheric Shortwave Radiative Fluxes From ISCCP Data and Fu-Liou Algorithm at Higher Spatial and Vertical Resolution

NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) has provided surface and TOA shortwave and longwave radiative fluxes using International Satellite Cloud Climatology data as the primary input. Release 4.0 came out in 2019, with data from July 1983 through June 2017, and improved validation stats relative to Release 3.0 (Stackhouse et al., 2012). Release 4.0 used the newly reprocessed ISCCP H data set. The shortwave algorithm for versions 3 and 4 has been based on the Pinker and Laszlo (1992) algorithm, which relies on the satellite-measured shortwave radiance to produce a TOA albedo. This background TOA albedo is made utilizing the background clear-sky visible radiance (called clear-sky composite radiance in the ISCCP data) and applying narrowband-to-broadband angular distribution models. Using a climatological aerosol assumption, the surface albedo is estimated using radiative transfer based (i.e., Fu/Liou radiative transfer model; Fu and Liou, 1993) look-up tables. Using this surface albedo and an instantaneous TOA albedo, the look-up tables are used to adjust both the aerosol optical depth (for clear sky) and cloud optical depth (for cloudy sky) for each scene. These properties and look up tables are then used to generate surface fluxes. While this has worked well to provide useful fluxes, it has occasionally resulted in inaccurate direct and diffuse surface SW fluxes due to the overreliance on aerosol optical depth. With increased computational power and storage now available, a more direct approach is now possible. Here we present a different approach for a future high resolution SRB Release 5.0. We replace the Pinker-Laszlo lookup table approach with a forward call to the Fu-Liou radiative transfer model as modified by the CERES team (Rose et al., 2006). In addition to being a proven radiation code, Fu-Liou allows the calculation of fluxes at different atmospheric levels and spectral bands, which will provide more insight into the surface radiation budget, its variability and attribution. It is expected that horizontal resolution will increase to at least 0.5°x0.5° from the current 1°x1°. Here we demonstrate a preliminary look at the next SRB, and show comparisons with the current release.

Earth Radiation Budget↗
NASA NTRS1986

Evolution of the net surface shortwave radiation over the Indian Ocean during summer MONEX (1979) - A satellite description

The evolution of the net shortwave (NSW) radiation fields during the monsoon of 1979 was analyzed, using geostationary satellite data, collected before, during, and after the monsoon onset. It is seen, from the time sequence of NSW fields, that during the preonset phase the characteristics of the NSW field are dominated by a strong maximum in the entire Arabian Sea and by a strong minimum in the central and eastern equatorial Indian Ocean, the minimum being associated with the intense convective activity occurring in that region. As the season evolves, the minima of NSW associated with the large scale convective activity propagate westward in the equatorial ocean. During the monsoon onset, there occurs an explosive onset of the convection activity in the Arabian Sea: the maximum has retreated towards the Somalia coast, and most of the sea then experiences a strong minimum of NSW associated with the intense precipitation occurring along the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent.

Gautier, C.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Variability in Global Top-of-Atmosphere Shortwave Radiation Between 2000 and 2005

Measurements from various instruments and analysis techniques are used to directly compare changes in Earth-atmosphere shortwave (SW) top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiation between 2000 and 2005. Included in the comparison are estimates of TOA reflectance variability from published ground-based Earthshine observations and from new satellite-based CERES, MODIS and ISCCP results. The ground-based Earthshine data show an order-of-magnitude more variability in annual mean SW TOA flux than either CERES or ISCCP, while ISCCP and CERES SW TOA flux variability is consistent to 40%. Most of the variability in CERES TOA flux is shown to be dominated by variations global cloud fraction, as observed using coincident CERES and MODIS data. Idealized Earthshine simulations of TOA SW radiation variability for a lunar-based observer show far less variability than the ground-based Earthshine observations, but are still a factor of 4-5 times more variable than global CERES SW TOA flux results. Furthermore, while CERES global albedos exhibit a well-defined seasonal cycle each year, the seasonal cycle in the lunar Earthshine reflectance simulations is highly variable and out-of-phase from one year to the next. Radiative transfer model (RTM) approaches that use imager cloud and aerosol retrievals reproduce most of the change in SW TOA radiation observed in broadband CERES data. However, assumptions used to represent the spectral properties of the atmosphere, clouds, aerosols and surface in the RTM calculations can introduce significant uncertainties in annual mean changes in regional and global SW TOA flux.

Loebe, Norman G.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Changes in the Surface Broadband Shortwave Radiation Budget During the 2017 Eclipse

While solar eclipses are known to greatly diminish the visible radiation reaching the surface of the Earth, less is known about the magnitude of the impact. We explore both the observed and modeled levels of change in surface radiation during the eclipse of 2017. We deployed a pyranometer and Pandora spectrometer instrument to Casper, Wyoming, and Columbia, Missouri, to measure surface broadband shortwave (SW) flux and atmospheric properties during the 21 August 2017 solar eclipse event. We performed detailed radiative transfer simulations to understand the role of clouds in spectral and broadband solar radiation transfer in the Earth’s atmosphere for the normal (non-eclipse) spectrum and red-shift solar spectra for eclipse conditions. The theoretical calculations showed that the non-eclipse-to-eclipse surface flux ratio depends strongly on the obscuration of the solar disk and slightly on the cloud optical depth. These findings allowed us to estimate what the surface broadband SW flux would be for hypothetical non-eclipse conditions from observations during the eclipse and further to quantify the impact of the eclipse on the surface broadband SW radiation budget. We found that the eclipse caused local reductions of time-averaged surface flux of about 379 W m−2 (50 %) and 329Wm-2 (46 %) during the ∼3 h course of the eclipse at the Casper and Columbia sites, respectively. We estimated that the Moon’s shadow caused a reduction of approximately 7 %–8% in global average surface broadband SW radiation. The eclipse has a smaller impact on the absolute value of surface flux reduction for cloudy conditions than a clear atmosphere; the impact decreases with the increase in cloud optical depth. However, the relative time-averaged reduction of local surface SW flux during a solar eclipse is approximately 45 %, and it is not sensitive to cloud optical depth. The reduction of global average SW flux relative to climatology is proportional to the non-eclipse and eclipse flux difference in the penumbra area and depends on cloud optical depth in the Moon’s shadow and geolocation due to the change in solar zenith angle. We also discuss the influence of cloud inhomogeneity on the observed SW flux. Our results not only quantify the reduction of the surface solar radiation budget, but also advance the understanding of broadband SW radiative transfer under solar eclipse conditions.

surface radiation↗
NASA NTRS1994

Impact of clouds on the shortwave radiation budget of the surface-atmosphere system for snow-covered surfaces

Recent data from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) have raised the question as to whether or not the addition of clouds to the atmospheric column can decrease the top-of-the atmosphere (TOA) albedo over bright snow-covered surface. To address this issue, ERBE shortwave pixel measurements have been collected with surface insolation measurements made at two snow-covered locations: the South Pole and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Both collected datasets show a negative correlation (with solar zenith angle variability removed) between TOA albedo and surfaces insolation. Because increased cloudiness acts to reduce surface insolation, these negative correlations demonstrate that clouds increase the TOA albedo at both snow-covered locations.

Nemesure, Seth↗
NASA NTRS1994

Impact of Clouds on the Shortwave Radiation Budget of the Surface: Atmosphere System for Snow Covered Surfaces

Recent data from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) have raised the question as to whether or not the addition of clouds to the atmospheric column can decrease the top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) albedo over bright snow-covered surfaces. To address this issue, ERBE shortwave pixel measurements have been collocated with surface insolation measurements made at two snow-covered locations: the South Pole and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Both collocated datasets show a negative correlation (with solar zenith angle variability removed) between TOA albedo and surface insolation. Because increased cloudiness acts to reduce surface insolation, these negative correlations demonstrate that clouds increase the TOA albedo at both snow-covered locations.

Nemesure, Seth↗
NASA NTRS1975

Remote sensing of snowpack density using shortwave radiation

Albedo or satellite radiance measurements can be used to estimate average snowpack density by means of a multiple linear equation. The in situ data equation predicted density with a correlation (sq r) of 0.79 and a standard error of 0.027 gm/cu cm. The data from LANDSAT-1 were not as significant in a similar equation, possibly because of the large field of view.

Mcmillan, M. C.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Albedo and flux extinction coefficient of impure snow for diffuse shortwave radiation

Impurities enter a snowpack as a result of fallout of scavenging by falling snow crystals. Albedo and flux extinction coefficient of soot contaminated snowcovers were studied using a two stream approximation of the radiative transfer equation. The effect of soot was calculated by two methods: independent scattering by ice grains and impurities and average refractive index for ice grains. Both methods predict a qualitatively similar effect of soot; the albedo is decreased and the extinction coefficient is increased compared to that for pure snow in the visible region; the infrared properties are largely unaffected. Quantitatively, however, the effect of soot is more pronounced in the average refractive index method. Soot contamination provides a qualitative explanation for several snow observations.

Choudhury, B. J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Narrow- and broad-band satellite measurements of shortwave radiation - Conversion simulations with a general circulation model

The Oregon State University/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory general circulation model has been employed as a vehicle for suggesting and exploring various means of converting narrow-band measurements of reflected solar radiation from the earth-atmosphere system to broad-band quantities. For purely illustrative purposes within the model's solar radiation routine, a narrow-band filter function consisting of a square-wave window extending from 0.5 to 0.9 microns is adopted. A limitation of the model, for this sort of endeavor, is that it does not include the wavelength dependence of surface albedos. Nevertheless, the model simulations tend to mimic the calibration of a narrow-band instrument, utilizing reflected solar radiation from the earth-atmosphere system as simultaneously measured by a collocated broad-band instrument; for the model, however, this is done in terms of fluxes, in contrast to instrument-measured radiances. The model results suggest that it might be preferable to perform narrow- to broad-band conversions in terms of planetary albedo (or an equivalent quantity), rather than in terms of reflected fluxes or radiances. Further improvement is achieved if, for instruments that can differentiate between clear and overcast conditions, separate clear and overcast calibrations are performed.

Cess, Robert D.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Shortwave radiative parameterization of large atmospheric aerosols - Dust and water clouds

A parameterization of the single scattering properties of an aerosol for a dust layer in the solar spectral region is presented. The parameterization scheme accounts for the microphysical changes of an aerosol layer and is applied to dust and water clouds. A scaling parameter is presented which describes, simply and effectively, the optical properties of an aerosol layer with a large effective size parameter.

Ackerman, Steven A.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Fast Longwave and Shortwave Radiative Flux (FLASHFlux) Products from CERES and MODIS Measurements

The Clouds and the Earth s Radiant Energy Systems (CERES) project is currently producing world-class climatological data products derived from measurements taken aboard the Terra and Aqua spacecrafts (Wielicki et al., 1996). While of exceptional fidelity, these data products require a considerable amount of processing to assure quality and verify accuracy and precision. Obtaining such high quality assurance, however, means that the CERES data is typically released more than six months after the acquisition of the initial measurements. For climate studies, such delays are of little consequence, especially considering the improved quality of the released data products. There are, however, many uses for the CERES data products on a near real-time basis. These include: CERES instrument calibration and subsystem quality checks, CLOUDSAT operations, seasonal predictions, agricultural and ocean assimilations, support of field campaigns, and outreach programs such as S'Cool. The FLASHflux project was envisioned as a conduit whereby CERES data could be provided to the community within a week of the initial measurements, with the trade-off that some degree of fidelity would be exacted to gain speed. In this paper, we will report on some very encouraging initial results from the FLASHflux project in which we compared the FLASHflux instantaneous surface fluxes to the CERES surface-only flux algorithm data products.

Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Effect of Spectrally Varying Albedo of Vegetation Surfaces on Shortwave Radiation Fluxes and Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing

This study develops an algorithm for representing detailed spectral features of vegetation albedo based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) observations at 7 discrete channels, referred to as the MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Albedo (MEVA) algorithm. The MEVA algorithm empirically fills spectral gaps around the vegetation red edge near 0.7 micrometers and vegetation water absorption features at 1.48 and 1.92 micrometers which cannot be adequately captured by the MODIS 7 channels. We then assess the effects of applying MEVA in comparison to four other traditional approaches to calculate solar fluxes and aerosol direct radiative forcing (DRF) at the top of atmosphere (TOA) based on the MODIS discrete reflectance bands. By comparing the DRF results obtained through the MEVA method with the results obtained through the other four traditional approaches, we show that filling the spectral gap of the MODIS measurements around 0.7 micrometers based on the general spectral behavior of healthy green vegetation leads to significant improvement in the instantaneous aerosol DRF at TOA (up to 3.02Wm(exp -2) difference or 48% fraction of the aerosol DRF, .6.28Wm(exp -2), calculated for high spectral resolution surface reflectance from 0.3 to 2.5 micrometers for deciduous vegetation surface). The corrections of the spectral gaps in the vegetation spectrum in the near infrared, again missed by the MODIS reflectances, also contributes to improving TOA DRF calculations but to a much lower extent (less than 0.27Wm(exp -2), or about 4% of the instantaneous DRF). Compared to traditional approaches, MEVA also improves the accuracy of the outgoing solar flux between 0.3 to 2.5 micrometers at TOA by over 60Wm(exp -2) (for aspen 3 surface) and aerosol DRF by over 10Wm(exp -2) (for dry grass). Specifically, for Amazon vegetation types, MEVA can improve the accuracy of daily averaged aerosol radiative forcing in the spectral range of 0.3 to 2.5 micrometers at equator at the equinox by 3.7Wm(exp -2). These improvements indicate that MEVA can contribute to regional climate studies over vegetated areas and can help to improve remote sensing-based studies of climate processes and climate change.

Zhu, L.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Correcting for Trace Gas Absorption When Retrieving Aerosol Optical Depth from Satellite Observations of Reflected Shortwave Radiation

Retrieving aerosol optical depth (AOD) from top-of-atmosphere (TOA) satellite measured radiance requires separating the aerosol signal from the total observed signal. Total TOA radiance includes signal from underlying surface and from atmospheric constituents such as aerosols, clouds and gases. Multispectral retrieval algorithms, such as the dark-target (DT) algorithm that operates upon Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS, onboard Terra and Aqua satellites) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS, onboard Suomi-NPP) sensors, use wavelength bands in "window" regions. However, while small, the gas absorptions in these bands are non-negligible and require correction. In this paper we use High-resolution TRANsmission (HITRAN) database and Line-by-Line Radiative Transfer Model (LBLRTM) to derive consistent gas corrections for both MODIS and VIIRS wavelength bands. Absorptions from H2O, CO2 and O3 are considered, as well as other trace gases. Even though MODIS and VIIRS bands are "similar", they are different enough that applying MODIS specific gas corrections to VIIRS observations results in an underestimate of global mean AOD (by 0.01), but with much larger regional AOD biases up to 0.07. As recent studies are attempting to create a long-term data record by joining multiple satellite datasets, including MODIS and VIIRS, the consistency of gas correction becomes even more crucial.

Satellite Remote Sensing↗