Use of AVHRR-derived spectral reflectances to estimate surface albedo across the Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site

Conference · Sat Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:475619

Qiu, J; Gao, W

Substantial variations in surface albedo across a large area cause difficulty in estimating regional net solar radiation and atmospheric absorption of shortwave radiation when only ground point measurements of surface albedo are used to represent the whole area. Information on spatial variations and site-wide averages of surface albedo, which vary with the underlying surface type and conditions and the solar zenith angle, is important for studies of clouds and atmospheric radiation over a large surface area. In this study, a bidirectional reflectance model was used to inversely retrieve surface properties such as leaf area index and then the bidirectional reflectance distribution was calculated by using the same radiation model. The albedo was calculated by converting the narrowband reflectance to broadband reflectance and then integrating over the upper hemisphere.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States); Department of Defense, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 475619
• Report Number(s): ANL/ER/CP--90550; CONF-970207--4; ON: DE97003233
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ABSORPTION
ALBEDO
CALCULATION METHODS
CANOPIES
CLOUDS
FORESTS
IMAGES
MEASURING METHODS
RANGELANDS
SOLAR RADIATION
SPECTRAL REFLECTANCE
SURFACE AREA
VARIATIONS