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Assessment of global climate model land surface albedo using MODIS data
Climate and Global Dynamics Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Climate and Global Dynamics Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Department of Geography and Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Department of Geography and Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Department of Geography and Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Department of Geography and Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Land surface albedo from the Community Land Model is compared to white-sky (diffuse) and black-sky albedo (direct at local solar noon) from MODIS. Generally, comparisons are more favorable in summer than winter, for visible waveband than near-infrared in regions without snow cover, and for black- than white-sky. In regions with extensive snow cover, the model overestimates white- and black-sky albedo by up to 20% absolute. The snow-free visible and near-infrared black-sky albedo is simulated quite well with biases within ±5% over most of the land surface. However, a large negative model bias was found for the Sahara Desert and Arabian Peninsula, particularly in the near-infrared. The poorer simulation of white- compared to black-sky albedo in vegetated areas implies that the model may be overestimating the increase of albedo with solar zenith angle. These results identify several areas that should have priority in further evaluating and improving albedo in the model.
Published 30 April 2003.
Citation: (2003), Assessment of global climate model land surface albedo using MODIS data, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(8), 1443, doi:10.1029/2002GL016749.
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