Evaluation of MODIS aerosols properties based on SKYNET ground measurements: Implications on the quality of prospective satellites' data

[ABSTRACT]The quality of Earth observation satellites’ products can be evaluated through the comparison of these quantities with those derived from ground measurements. In the perspective of the operational start of the Global Change Observation Mission-Climate (GCOM-C) satellite carrying the Second-generation Global Imager sensor (SGLI) , the quality of aerosols properties retrieved from actual and comparable satellites, such as the Terra- and Aqua- Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (Terra- and Aqua-MODIS), is assessed with ground measurements from three SKYNET (observation network to understand aerosol-cloud-radiation interaction) sites, located in the southern part of Japan. In this assessment, two major aerosols properties, the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and the ?ngstr?m exponent (Alpha), derived from skyradiometers measurements of the SKYNET sites are compared with the retrievals from two Terra- and Aqua-MODIS satellites’ algorithms for a period of 2 years (2008 and 2009). Results of these comparisons show overall similarities in the monthly and seasonal variations of the aerosols quantities between these data sets. However the magnitude of this variation shows some differences between the ground data and one of the MODIS algorithms. The retrievals from this algorithm appear consistently overestimated for the AOT (thicker layers) and underestimated for Alpha (dominance of coarser particles). Possible causes of these tendencies are investigated with particular emphasis on the aerosol size distribution assumption used for the satellite retrievals and the contamination by clouds.

https://opac.ll.chiba-u.jp/da/curator/106793/

https://opac.ll.chiba-u.jp/da/curator/106793/CeresIntlSympo16-P111.pdf

Chiba University. Center for Environmental Remote Sensing

千葉大学環境リモートセンシング研究センター

会議発表用資料

Proceedings of the CEReS international symposium = CEReS国際シンポジウム資料集

16

111

118

2010-10-21

publisher

環境リモートセンシング研究センター「CEReSシンポジウム資料集」