Improved Lunar Irradiance Model Using Multiyear MODIS Lunar Observations

The World Space Congress comprised of the 43rd Congress of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and the 29th Plenary Meeting of the Committee of Space Research (COSPAR) was held in Washington, DC from 27 August to 4 September, 1992. Over 3000 people participated in the meetings where scientific papers were presented on such diverse topics as space travel, biological aspects of space travel, relativity, planetary atmospheres, space debris, space law, global change, launch vehicles, space station, space communication, navigation, Earth rotation, astrometry, satellite geodesy, use of lunar observations, and new observational techniques. Presentations dealing with the topics of this symposium are discussed, but complete reports will be forthcoming in the proceedings of the Congress.

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ALEXIS Lunar Observations

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100036393 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 152 ◽

pp. 465-470

Author(s):

B.C. Edwards ◽

J.J. Bloch ◽

D. Roussel-Dupré ◽

T.E. Pfafman ◽

Sean Ryan

Keyword(s):

Solar Radiation ◽

Extreme Ultraviolet ◽

Solar Spectrum ◽

Lunar Orbit ◽

The Moon ◽

Small Satellite ◽

Large Area ◽

Lunar Observations ◽

Night Sky

The ALEXIS small satellite was designed as a large area monitor operating at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths (130 − 190 Å). At these energies, the moon is the brightest object in the night sky and was the first source identified in the ALEXIS data. Due to the design of ALEXIS and the lunar orbit, the moon is observed for two weeks of every month. Since lunar emissions in the extreme ultraviolet are primarily reflected solar radiation these observations may be useful as a solar monitor in the extreme ultraviolet. The data show distinct temporal and spectral variations indicating similar changes in the solar spectrum. We will present a preliminary dataset of lunar observations and discussions covering the variations observed and how they relate to the solar spectrum.

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Assessment of nocturnal aerosol optical depth from lunar photometry at the Izaña high mountain observatory

Atmospheric Measurement Techniques ◽

10.5194/amt-10-3007-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 3007-3019 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

África Barreto ◽

Roberto Román ◽

Emilio Cuevas ◽

Alberto J. Berjón ◽

A. Fernando Almansa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Aerosol Optical Depth ◽

Optical Depth ◽

High Mountain ◽

Moon Phase ◽

Stable Conditions ◽

Lunar Observations ◽

The Common ◽

The Difference ◽

Single Night ◽

Calibration Techniques

Abstract. This work is a first approach to correct the systematic errors observed in the aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved at nighttime using lunar photometry and calibration techniques dependent on the lunar irradiance model. To this end, nocturnal AOD measurements were performed in 2014 using the CE318-T master Sun–sky–lunar photometer (lunar Langley calibrated) at the Izaña high mountain observatory. This information has been restricted to 59 nights characterized as clean and stable according to lidar vertical profiles. A phase angle dependence as well as an asymmetry within the Moon's cycle of the Robotic Lunar Observatory (ROLO) model could be deduced from the comparison in this 59-night period of the CE318-T calibration performed by means of the lunar Langley calibration and the calibration performed every single night by means of the common Langley technique. Nocturnal AOD has also been compared in the same period with a reference AOD based on daylight AOD extracted from the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) at the same station. Considering stable conditions, the difference ΔAODfit, between AOD from lunar observations and the linearly interpolated AOD (the reference) from daylight data, has been calculated. The results show that ΔAODfit values are strongly affected by the Moon phase and zenith angles. This dependency has been parameterized using an empirical model with two independent variables (Moon phase and zenith angles) in order to correct the AOD for these residual dependencies. The correction of this parameterized dependency has been checked at four stations with quite different environmental conditions (Izaña, Lille, Carpentras and Dakar) showing a significant reduction of the AOD dependence on phase and zenith angles and an improved agreement with daylight reference data. After the correction, absolute AOD differences for day–night–day clean and stable transitions remain below 0.01 for all wavelengths.

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