|
Read Full Article (file size: 552785 bytes) Cited by
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 33,
L20802,
doi:10.1029/2006GL027088,
2006
Cloud fraction errors for trade wind cumuli from EOS-Terra instruments
Guangyu Zhao
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
Larry Di Girolamo
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
Abstract
Errors in the standard cloud fraction products produced by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on EOS-Terra were examined using 15 m resolution data from the Advanced Spaceborne
Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). Relative to 124 ASTER scenes containing only trade wind cumuli and having
an average cloud fraction of 0.08, MODIS and MISR overestimated cloud fraction by 0.18 and 0.36, respectively. For non-sunglint
scenes, MODIS and MISR overestimated cloud fractions by 0.02 and 0.24, respectively. Systematic dependences in the MODIS and
MISR cloud fractions with ASTER cloud fraction were observed. Large RMS errors in MODIS and MISR cloud fractions were observed
because of variations in the spatial distribution of clouds, suggesting it may be difficult to decouple long-term changes
in cloud fraction from satellites from true changes in the spatial distribution of clouds.
Received 2
June
2006;
accepted 12
September
2006;
published 18
October
2006.
Index Terms: 0321 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Cloud/radiation interaction; 0399 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: General or miscellaneous; 0394 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Instruments and techniques.
Read Full Article (file size: 552785 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Zhao, G., and L. Di Girolamo
(2006),
Cloud fraction errors for trade wind cumuli from EOS-Terra instruments,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
33,
L20802,
doi:10.1029/2006GL027088.
Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.
|