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At least 127 records · Page 7

Snow Reflectance from Thematic Mapper

Calculations of snow reflectance in all 6 TM reflective bands (i.e., 1,2,3,4,5, and 7) using a delta Eddington model show that snow reflectance in bands 4,5, and 7 is sensitive to grain size. Efforts to interpret the surface optical grain size for the spectral extension of albedo are described. Results show the TM data include spectral channels suitable for snow/cloud discrimination and for snow albedo measurements that can be extended throughout the solar spectrum. Except for band 1, the dynamic range is large enough that saturation occurs only occasionally. The finer resolution gives much better detail on the snowcovered area and might make it possible to use textural information instead of the snowline as an index to the amount of snow melt runoff.

Dozier, J.↗

Spatially Complete Surface Albedo Data Sets: Value-Added Products Derived from Terra MODIS Land Products

Spectral land surface albedo is an important parameter for describing the radiative properties of the Earth. Accordingly it reflects the consequences of natural and human interactions, such as anthropogenic, meteorological, and phenological effects, on global and local climatological trends. Consequently, albedos are integral parts in a variety of research areas, such as general circulation models (GCMs), energy balance studies, modeling of land use and land use change, and biophysical, oceanographic, and meteorological studies. Recent observations of diffuse bihemispherical (white-sky) and direct beam directional hemispherical (black-sky ) land surface albedo included in the MOD43B3 product from MODIS instruments aboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellite platforms have provided researchers with unprecedented spatial, spectral, and temporal characteristics. Cloud and seasonal snow cover, however, curtail retrievals to approximately half the global land surfaces on an annual equal-angle basis, precluding MOD43B3 albedo products from direct inclusion in some research projects and production environments.

Moody, Eric G.↗

Improving alpine-region spectral unmixing with optimal-fit snow endmembers

Surface albedo and snow-covered-area (SCA) are crucial inputs to the hydrologic and climatologic modeling of alpine and seasonally snow-covered areas. Because the spectral albedo and thermal regime of pure snow depend on grain size, areal distribution of snow grain size is required. Remote sensing has been shown to be an effective (and necessary) means of deriving maps of grain size distribution and snow-covered-area. Developed here is a technique whereby maps of grain size distribution improve estimates of SCA from spectral mixture analysis with AVIRIS data.

Painter, Thomas H.↗

UV albedo of clouds from TOMS data

The Pilot Climate Data System (PCDS) was found to be useful in examining a subset of data from the Nimbus-7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). The TOMS instrument scans with six channels between .3 and .4 micrometers. It was suggested that by analyzing albedo values from the longer wavelength channels of the TOMS, the effects of increasing optical depth could be determined. It is spectral relationship of albedo-to-optical depth that is investigated here. The question can be stated: Is there spectral differentiation in albedo with changes in the optical depth of clouds? Nimbus-7 TOMS data were obtained through the PCDS for an area and time period for which correlative NOAA AVHRR data were available. The AVHRR data were important in determining the existing cloud patterns. As expected, no spectral differentiation was observed at very high albedos (associated with high optical depths). However, at lower optical depths, evidence of spectral dependence on albedo was observed. Mapping the results geographically was deemed highly desirable but was not possible through the PCDS at the time. The PCDS can be viewed as an effective research tool to access selected portions of data. Without being intimately familiar with a data set, a PCDS user can successfully manipulate data in a scientific study.

Short, D.↗

Titan's 5 micrometers spectral window: carbon monoxide and the albedo of the surface

We have measured the spectrum of Titan near 5 micrometers and have found it to be dominated by absorption from the carbon monoxide 1-0 vibration-rotation band. The position of the band edge allows us to constrain the abundance of CO in the atmosphere and/or the location of the reflecting layer in the atmosphere. In the most likely case, 5 micrometers radiation is reflected from the surface and the mole fraction of CO in the atmosphere is qCO=10(+10/-5) ppm, significantly lower than previous estimates for tropospheric CO. The albedo of the reflecting layer is approximately 0.07(+0.02/-0.01) in the 5 micrometers continuum outside the CO band. The 5 micrometers albedo is consistent with a surface of mixed ice and silicates similar to the icy Galilean satellites. Organic solids formed in simulated Titan conditions can also produce similar albedos at 5 micrometers.

Saturn↗

Complex Organic Materials on Planetary Satellites and Other Small Bodies of the Solar System

The search for organic materials on small bodies of the Solar System is conducted spectroscopically from Earth-based telescopes and from spacecraft. Although the carbonaceous meteorites carry a significant inventory of complex organic solids, the sources of these meteorites have not been identified. Infrared spectra of a sample of the suspected sources, the C- and D-class asteroids, including new data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, show signatures of silicates, but none diagnostic of organic compounds. In the absence of discrete spectral features, the low albedos and colors in the visible and near-IR spectral regions are the principal links between the organic-bearing meteorites and the asteroids. While Pluto and a few trans-neptunian objects show spectral signatures of frozen CH4. Solid CH3OH has been identified on two Centaur objects in the outer Solar System. In some cases the red colors of those objects suggest the presence of tholins. The VIMS instrument aboard the Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn has detected near-IR spectral features on at least three of Saturn's satellites that are indicative or suggestive of organic molecules. One entire hemisphere of the satellite Iapetus is covered with low-albedo material that shows a spectral signature of aromatic hydrocarbons (3.3 microns) and the -CH2 stretching mode bands of an aliphatic component. Organics absorbing at 3.44 microns are suspected in the region of the south pole of Enceladus, and also on the surface of Phoebe. Organic material may originate on icy bodies in the current epoch by various processes of energy deposition into native material, or they may fall to the surface from an external (probably cometary) source. Some organic material may be pre-solar, having originated in the interstellar medium before the formation of the Solar System. Using the techniques of remote sensing, its detection and analysis are slow and difficult.

Cruikshank, Dale P.↗

The Performance of Current Atmospheric Radiation Codes in Phase I of CIRC

The Continual Intercomparison of Radiation Codes (CIRC) is intended as an evolving and regularly updated reference source for evaluation of radiative transfer (RT) codes used in Global Climate Models and other atmospheric applications. In our presentation we will discuss our evaluation of the performance of 13 shortwave and 11 longwave RT codes that participated in Phase I of CIRC. CIRC differs from previous intercomparisons in that it relies on an observationally validated catalogue of cases. The seven CIRC Phase I baseline cases, five cloud-free, and two with overcast liquid clouds, are built around observations by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM) program that satisfy the goals .of Phase I, namely to examine RT model performance in realistic, yet not overly complex, atmospheric conditions. Besides the seven baseline cases, additional idealized "subcases" are also examined to facilitate interpretation of model errors. We will quantify individual model performance with respect to reference line-by-line calculations, and will also highlight RT code behavior for conditions of doubled CO2 , aspects of utilizing a spectral specification of surface albedo, and the impact of the inclusion of scattering in the thermal infrared. Our analysis suggests that RT codes should work towards improving their calculation of diffuse shortwave flux, shortwave absorption, treatment of spectral surface albedo, and shortwave CO2 forcing. Despite practical difficulties in comparing our results to previous results by the Intercomparison of Radiation Codes in Climate Models (ICRCCM) conducted about 20 years ago, it appears that the current generation of RT codes do indeed perform better than the codes of the ICRCCM era. By enhancing the range of conditions under which participating codes are tested, future CIRC phases will hopefully allow even more rigorous examination of RT code performance.

Oreopoulos, L.↗

Updates on the DebriSat Hypervelocity Experiment and Characterization of Fragments in Support of Environmental Models

To develop, maintain, and update orbital debris environmental and break-up models, such as the NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM) and the NASA Standard Satellite Breakup Model (SSBM), the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) relies on the most recent validated datasets from various measurement sources, both laboratory and environmental. One key project that will provide insight for break-up events using modern-day spacecraft materials and construction techniques is the DebriSat laboratory hypervelocity-impact test. Based on the mass of the target, the projectile, and the impact velocity, the expected number of fragments greater than 2 mm, generated using the NASA SSBM, was estimated to be close to 85,000. To date, the DebriSat fragment database continues to grow, with over 200,000 fragments collected that will help inform updates to the SSBM. Additionally, the growing fragment ensemble will support key parameters for the next release of NASA’s environmental models, employing fragment shapes, densities, and size distributions. To further support these environmental models, specifically the size parameter used in ground-based optical measurements, optical characterization on a subset of DebriSat fragments is being conducted in ODPO’s Optical Measurement Center (OMC). Broadband bidirectional reflectance distribution (BRDF) measurements will provide insight into the optical-based NASA Size Estimation Model (OSEM). The OSEM equates an object’s brightness to size (e.g., diameter of a disk or sphere) given several assumed parameters, including a defined phase function, albedo, and range. To address the first defined parameter, the ODPO has been using ray-tracing software to simulate light conditions in the OMC and to generate phase functions (i.e., specular, Lambertian, and experimentally-derived) of known shapes, materials, and sizes. This simulated data, in addition to the experimentally derived measurements collected in the OMC, will aid in determining whether a new phase function would be suitable for an updated OSEM. The OSEM also assumes a single-value albedo, thus preimpact spectral measurements on a subset of DebriSat materials were acquired for baseline material characterization and to provide insight into spacecraft material taxonomies. This DebriSat spectral data, along with spectral measurements from other known spacecraft material samples, will allow for better analyses of albedo variations and the effect on size calculations of defined laboratory targets, thus further supporting OSEM updates. This paper provides an overview of DebriSat, the status of the project, updates on the parameter distributions, an overview of the NASA SSBM, and ongoing fragment characterization efforts within the OMC.

Heather Cowardin↗

System albedo as sensed by satellites - Its definition and variability

System albedo, an important climatological and environmental parameter, is considered. Some of the problems and assumptions involved in evaluating albedo from satellite data are discussed. Clear-sky and cloud albedos over the United Kingdom and parts of northwest Europe are treated. Consideration is given to the spectral, temporal, and spatial variations and the effect of averaging. The implications of these results for those using and archiving albedo values and for future monitoring of system albedo are discussed. Normalization is of especial importance since this correction alters many albedo values. The pronounced difference in spectral albedo of the two visible channels reemphasizes the problem of attempting to calculate integrated albedo values from meteorological satellite data. The assumption of isotropic reflection is seen to be invalid, hindering the computation of accurate albedo values.

Hughes, N. A.↗

PING Gamma Ray and Neutron Measurements of a Meter-Sized Carbonaceous Asteroid Analog

Determining the elemental composition of carbonaceous (spectral type C) asteroids is still one of the basic problems when studying these objects. The only main source of elemental composition information for asteroids is from their optical, NIR and IR properties, which include their spectral reflectance characteristics, albedo, polarization, and the comparison of optical spectroscopy with meteorite groups corresponding to asteroids of every spectral type. Unfortunately, these sources reflect observations from widely contrasting spatial scales that presently yield a void in the continuum of microscopic and macroscopic evidence, a lack of in situ measurement confirmation, and require deeper sensing techniques to discern the nature of these asteroids. The Probing In situ with Neutrons and Gamma rays (PING) instrument is ideally suited to address this problem because it can be used to determine the bulk elemental composition, H and C content, the average atomic weight and density of the surface and subsurface layers of C-type asteroids, and can provide measurements used to determine the difference between and distinguish between different types of asteroids. We are currently developing the PING instrument that combines gamma ray and neutron detectors with a 14 Me V pulsed neutron generator to determine the in-situ bulk elemental abundances and geochemistry of C-type asteroids with a spatial resolution of 1 m down to depths of tens of cm to 1 m. One aspect of the current work includes experimentally testing and optimizing PING on a known meter-sized Columbia River basalt C-type asteroid analog sample that has a similar composition and the same neutron response as that of a C-type asteroid. An important part of this effort focuses on utilizing timing measurements to isolate gamma rays produced by neutron inelastic scattering, neutron capture and delayed activation processes. Separating the gamma ray spectra by nuclear processes results in higher precision and sensitivity elemental composition measurements. Using gated data acquisition techniques allows for the unambiguous identification of gamma ray lines from different isotopes and nuclear processes, especially in situations when limited detector resolution results in overlapping gamma ray lines that cannot be individually resolved. In this paper, we will present the PING basalt layering experimental data, taken at the test facility at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center using the time tagged event-by-event data analysis technique, compared to our MCNPX computer simulation results for the C-type asteroid and basalt layering simulant models. Comparison of these data will show the advantages, validity, and measurement sensitivity of PING's nuclear interrogation methods to obtain more precise and sensitive in situ bulk elemental composition and density measurements of the subsurface of asteroids.

Bodnarik, J.↗

Spectral evidence for the mineralogy of high-albedo soils and dust on Mars

Laboratory spectroscopic observations are presented which further constrain the mineralogy and origin of the high albedo Martian soils and dust, and suggest that nontronite is not a major component of Martian soils, although the presence of other iron-poor clays cannot be excluded on the basis of current observational data. Because the best of the known spectral analogs for the high albedo Martian material is a type of palagonite from Hawaii, it is thought that ferric iron is likely to occur in poorly defined Martian crystallographic sites producing X-ray amorphous weathering products of mafic volcanic glass. These materials form slowly, under semiarid conditions, at ambient temperatures. Since the amorphous Hawaiian soils exist metastably for thousands of years, their Martian analogs may be expected to survive even longer under the present cold and dry climatic conditions.

Singer, R. B.↗

Latitudinal survey of spectral optical depths of the Pinatubo volcanic cloud - Derived particle sizes, columnar mass loadings, and effects on planetary albedo

Airborne measurements are examined of spectral optical depths, radiative fluxes, and scattered radiation fields during the NASA Caribbean mission (July 7-14, 1991) to characterize the Pinatubo volcanic cloud. The latitudinal and spectral dependence are reported of the volcanic cloud's optical depth. From these measurements moments of the particle-size distribution are determined. The change in planetary albedo induced by the volcanic cloud is calculated for the range of measured optical depths with the objective of assessing the impact on the solar radiation budget. Mid-visible optical depths higher than 0.4 were observed, placing the Pinatubo stratospheric cloud among the thickest ever measured. The latitudinal distribution of extinction shows that by July 7, 1991 the volcanic cloud had extended to 30 deg N. The effective particle radius was determined to be between 0.18 and 0.35 micron with a corresponding columnar mass loading between 35 and 80 mag/sq m.

Valero, Francisco P. J.↗

Calculation of surface and top of atmosphere radiative fluxes from physical quantities based on ISCCP data sets. 1: Method and sensitivity to input data uncertainties

The largest uncertainty in upwelling shortwave (SW) fluxes (approximately equal 10-15 W/m(exp 2), regional daily mean) is caused by uncertainties in land surface albedo, whereas the largest uncertainty in downwelling SW at the surface (approximately equal 5-10 W/m(exp 2), regional daily mean) is related to cloud detection errors. The uncertainty of upwelling longwave (LW) fluxes (approximately 10-20 W/m(exp 2), regional daily mean) depends on the accuracy of the surface temperature for the surface LW fluxes and the atmospheric temperature for the top of atmosphere LW fluxes. The dominant source of uncertainty is downwelling LW fluxes at the surface (approximately equal 10-15 W/m(exp 2)) is uncertainty in atmospheric temperature and, secondarily, atmospheric humidity; clouds play little role except in the polar regions. The uncertainties of the individual flux components and the total net fluxes are largest over land (15-20 W/m(exp 2)) because of uncertainties in surface albedo (especially its spectral dependence) and surface temperature and emissivity (including its spectral dependence). Clouds are the most important modulator of the SW fluxes, but over land areas, uncertainties in net SW at the surface depend almost as much on uncertainties in surface albedo. Although atmospheric and surface temperature variations cause larger LW flux variations, the most notable feature of the net LW fluxes is the changing relative importance of clouds and water vapor with latitude. Uncertainty in individual flux values is dominated by sampling effects because of large natrual variations, but uncertainty in monthly mean fluxes is dominated by bias errors in the input quantities.

Zhang, Y.-C.↗

Refractive Index and Scattering Effects on Radiative Behavior of a Semitransparent Layer

Heat transfer characteristics are analyzed for a plane layer of semitransparent material with refractive index not less than 1. Energy transfer in the material is by conduction, emission, absorption, and isotropic scattering. Each side of the layer is heated by radiation and convection. For a refractive index larger than unity, there is internal reflection of some of the energy within the layer. This, coupled with scattering, has a substantial effect on distributing energy across the layer and altering the temperature distribution from when the refractive index is unity. The effect of scattering is examined by comparisons with results from an earlier paper for an absorbing layer. Results are given for a gray medium with a scattering albedo up to 0.999, and for a two-band spectral variation of the albedo with one band having low absorption. Radiant energy leaving the surface as a result of emission and scattering was examined to determine if it could be used to accurately indicate the surface temperature.

Spuckler, C. M.↗

Reducing OCO-2 regional biases through novel 3D cloud, albedo, and meteorology estimation

This ROSES project tests the addition of novel 3D cloud, albedo fine structure, temperature and water vapor profile to the OCO-2 retrieved system. All new parameters have been added to the ReFRACtor / TROPESS system for testing. Currently, we are comparing 3d-cloud retrievals from OCO-2 radiances to the MODIS-derived EAR3T cloud properties. The water and temperature profile retrievals have been implemented and result in improved XCO2 comparisons to TCCON, and now are implementing principal-component analysis (PCA) to reduce the number of parameters added. We are also studying ECOSTRESS spectral library, AVIRIS-ng, OCO-2 spectral residuals, and albedo retrievals with additional parameters to determine the appropriate characterization of albedo. We find that the current albedo parametrization (2nd order polynomial) is adequate for ocean and vegetation, but not adequate for soil and rock observations.

Reducing OCO-2↗

Updated MISR Dark Water Research Aerosol Retrieval Algorithm - Part 1: Coupled 1.1 km Ocean Surface Chlorophyll a Retrievals with Empirical Calibration Corrections

As aerosol amount and type are key factors in the 'atmospheric correction' required for remote-sensing chlorophyll alpha concentration (Chl) retrievals, the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) can contribute to ocean color analysis despite a lack of spectral channels optimized for this application. Conversely, an improved ocean surface constraint should also improve MISR aerosol-type products, especially spectral single-scattering albedo (SSA) retrievals. We introduce a coupled, self-consistent retrieval of Chl together with aerosol over dark water. There are time-varying MISR radiometric calibration errors that significantly affect key spectral reflectance ratios used in the retrievals. Therefore, we also develop and apply new calibration corrections to the MISR top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance data, based on comparisons with coincident MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) observations and trend analysis of the MISR TOA bidirectional reflectance factors (BRFs) over three pseudo-invariant desert sites. We run the MISR research retrieval algorithm (RA) with the corrected MISR reflectances to generate MISR-retrieved Chl and compare the MISR Chl values to a set of 49 coincident SeaBASS (SeaWiFS Bio-optical Archive and Storage System) in situ observations. Where Chl(sub in situ) less than 1.5 mg m(exp -3), the results from our Chl model are expected to be of highest quality, due to algorithmic assumption validity. Comparing MISR RA Chl to the 49 coincident SeaBASS observations, we report a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.86, a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.25, and a median absolute error (MAE) of 0.10. Statistically, a two-sample Kolmogorov- Smirnov test indicates that it is not possible to distinguish between MISR Chl and available SeaBASS in situ Chl values (p greater than 0.1). We also compare MODIS-Terra and MISR RA Chl statistically, over much broader regions. With about 1.5 million MISR-MODIS collocations having MODIS Chl less than 1.5 mg m(exp -3), MISR and MODIS show very good agreement: r = 0.96, MAE = 0.09, and RMSE = 0.15. The new dark water aerosol/Chl RA can retrieve Chl in low-Chl, case I waters, independent of other imagers such as MODIS, via a largely physical algorithm, compared to the commonly applied statistical ones. At a minimum, MISR's multi-angle data should help reduce uncertainties in the MODIS-Terra ocean color retrieval where coincident measurements are made, while also allowing for a more robust retrieval of particle properties such as spectral single-scattering albedo.

Limbacher, James A.↗

Climatological Aspects of the Optical Properties of Fine/Coarse Mode Aerosol Mixtures

Aerosol mixtures composed of coarse mode desert dust combined with fine mode combustion generated aerosols (from fossil fuel and biomass burning sources) were investigated at three locations that are in and/or downwind of major global aerosol emission source regions. Multiyear monitoring data at Aerosol Robotic Network sites in Beijing (central eastern China), Kanpur (Indo-Gangetic Plain, northern India), and Ilorin (Nigeria, Sudanian zone of West Africa) were utilized to study the climatological characteristics of aerosol optical properties. Multiyear climatological averages of spectral single scattering albedo (SSA) versus fine mode fraction (FMF) of aerosol optical depth at 675 nm at all three sites exhibited relatively linear trends up to 50% FMF. This suggests the possibility that external linear mixing of both fine and coarse mode components (weighted by FMF) dominates the SSA variation, where the SSA of each component remains relatively constant for this range of FMF only. However, it is likely that a combination of other factors is also involved in determining the dynamics of SSA as a function of FMF, such as fine mode particles adhering to coarse mode dust. The spectral variation of the climatological averaged aerosol absorption optical depth (AAOD) was nearly linear in logarithmic coordinates over the wavelength range of 440-870 nm for both the Kanpur and Ilorin sites. However, at two sites in China (Beijing and Xianghe), a distinct nonlinearity in spectral AAOD in logarithmic space was observed, suggesting the possibility of anomalously strong absorption in coarse mode aerosols increasing the 870 nm AAOD.

Eck, T. F.↗

Characterization of Aerosols over the Indochina Peninsula from Satellite-Surface Observations During Biomass Burning Pre-Monsoon Season

This paper presents characterization of aerosols over the Indochina peninsular regions of Southeast Asia during pre-monsoon season from satellite and ground-based radiometric observations. Our analysis focuses on the seasonal peak period in aerosol loading and biomass burning, prior to the onset of the Asian summer monsoon, as observed in the inter-annual variations of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and fire count data from MODIS. Multi-year (2007-2011) analysis of spaceborne lidar measurements, from CALIOP, indicates presence of aerosols mostly within boundary layer, however extending to elevated altitudes to approx. 4 km over northern regions of Indochina, encompassing Myanmar, northern Thailand and southern China. In addition, a strong gradient in aerosol loading and vertical distribution is observed from the relatively clean equatorial conditions to heavy smoke-laden northern regions (greater aerosol extinction and smaller depolarization ratio). Based on column-integrated ground-based measurements from four AERONET locations distributed over Thailand, the regional aerosol loading is found to be significantly absorbing with spectral single scattering albedo (SSA) below 0.91+/-0.02 in the 440-1020 nm range, with lowest seasonal mean SSA (most absorbing aerosol) over the northern location of Chiang Mai (SSA approx. 0.85) during pre-monsoon season. The smoke-laden aerosol loading is found to exhibit a significant diurnal pattern with higher AOD departures during early morning observations relative to late afternoon conditions (peak difference of more than 15% amplitude). Finally, satellite-based aerosol radiative impact is assessed using CERES shortwave Top-of-Atmosphere flux, in conjunction with MODIS AOD. Overall, a consistency in the aerosol-induced solar absorption characteristic is found among selected regions from ground-based sunphotometer-derived spectral SSA retrievals and satellite-based radiative forcing analysis.

Indochina↗