scholarly journals Estimation of Downwelling Surface Longwave Radiation under Heavy Dust Aerosol Sky

Author(s):  
Chunlei Wang ◽  
Bo-Hui Tang ◽  
Hua Wu ◽  
Ronglin Tang ◽  
Zhao-Liang Li

The variation of aerosols, especially dust aerosol, in time and space plays an important role in climate forcing studies. Aerosols can effectively reduce land surface longwave emission and re-emit energy at a colder temperature, making estimation of downwelling surface longwave radiation (DSLR) with satellite data difficult. Using the latest atmospheric radiative transfer code (MODTRAN 5.0), we simulate the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and DSLR under different land surface and atmospheric profile conditions. The results show that dust aerosol has an obvious “warming” effect to longwave radiation compared with other aerosols, that aerosol longwave radiative forcing (ALRF) increased with increasing aerosol optical depth (AOD), and that the atmospheric water vapor content (WVC) is critical to the understanding of ALRF. A method is proposed to improve the accuracy of DSLR estimation from satellite data for the skies under heavy dust aerosols. The AOD and atmospheric WVC under cloud-free conditions with a relatively simple satellite-based radiation model that yields the high accurate DSLR under heavy dust aerosol are used explicitly as model input to reduce the effects of dust aerosol on the estimation of DSLR. Validations of the proposed model with satellites data and field measurements show that it estimates the DSLR accurately under heavy dust aerosol skies. The root mean square errors (RMSEs) are 20.4 W/M2 and 24.2 W/M2 for Terra and Aqua satellites, respectively, at the Yingke site, and the biases are 2.7 W/M2 and 9.6 W/M2, respectively. For the Arvaikheer site, the RMSEs are 23.2 W/M2 and 19.8 W/M2 for Terra and Aqua, respectively, and the biases are 7.8 W/M2 and 10.5 W/M2, respectively. The proposed method is especially applicable to acquire relatively high accurate DSLR under heavy dust aerosol using MODIS data with available WVC and AOD data.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 2016
Author(s):  
Lijuan Wang ◽  
Ni Guo ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Hongchao Zuo

FY-4A is a second generation of geostationary orbiting meteorological satellite, and the successful launch of FY-4A satellite provides a new opportunity to obtain diurnal variation of land surface temperature (LST). In this paper, different underlying surfaces-observed data were applied to evaluate the applicability of the local split-window algorithm for FY-4A, and the local split-window algorithm parameters were optimized by the artificial intelligent particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to improve the accuracy of retrieved LST. Results show that the retrieved LST can efficiently reproduce the diurnal variation characteristics of LST. However, the estimated values deviate hugely from the observed values when the local split-window algorithms are directly used to process the FY-4A satellite data, and the root mean square errors (RMSEs) are approximately 6K. The accuracy of the retrieved LST cannot be effectively improved by merely modifying the emissivity-estimated model or optimizing the algorithm. Based on the measured emissivity, the RMSE of LST retrieved by the optimized local split-window algorithm is reduced to 3.45 K. The local split-window algorithm is a simple and easy retrieval approach that can quickly retrieve LST on a regional scale and promote the application of FY-4A satellite data in related fields.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gitanjali Thakur ◽  
Stan Schymanski ◽  
Kaniska Mallick ◽  
Ivonne Trebs

<p>The surface energy balance (SEB) is defined as the balance between incoming energy from the sun and outgoing energy from the Earth’s surface. All components of the SEB depend on land surface temperature (LST). Therefore, LST is an important state variable that controls the energy and water exchange between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere. LST can be estimated radiometrically, based on the infrared radiance emanating from the surface. At the landscape scale, LST is derived from thermal radiation measured using  satellites.  At the plot scale, eddy covariance flux towers commonly record downwelling and upwelling longwave radiation, which can be inverted to retrieve LST  using the grey body equation :<br>             R<sub>lup</sub> = εσ T<sub>s</sub><sup>4</sup> + (1 − ε) R<sub> ldw         </sub>(1)<br>where R<sub>lup</sub> is the upwelling longwave radiation, R<sub>ldw</sub> is the downwelling longwave radiation, ε is the surface emissivity, <em>T<sub>s</sub>  </em>is the surface temperature and σ  is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. The first term is the temperature-dependent part, while the second represents reflected longwave radiation. Since in the past downwelling longwave radiation was not measured routinely using flux towers, it is an established practice to only use upwelling longwave radiation for the retrieval of plot-scale LST, essentially neglecting the reflected part and shortening Eq. 1 to:<br>               R<sub>lup</sub> = εσ T<sub>s</sub><sup>4 </sup>                       (2)<br>Despite  widespread availability of downwelling longwave radiation measurements, it is still common to use the short equation (Eq. 2) for in-situ LST retrieval. This prompts the question if ignoring the downwelling longwave radiation introduces a bias in LST estimations from tower measurements. Another associated question is how to obtain the correct ε needed for in-situ LST retrievals using tower-based measurements.<br>The current work addresses these two important science questions using observed fluxes at eddy covariance towers for different land cover types. Additionally, uncertainty in retrieved LST and emissivity due to uncertainty in input fluxes was quantified using SOBOL-based uncertainty analysis (SALib). Using landscape-scale emissivity obtained from satellite data (MODIS), we found that the LST  obtained using the complete equation (Eq. 1) is 0.5 to 1.5 K lower than the short equation (Eq. 2). Also, plot-scale emissivity was estimated using observed sensible heat flux and surface-air temperature differences. Plot-scale emissivity obtained using the complete equation was generally between 0.8 to 0.98 while the short equation gave values between 0.9 to 0.98, for all land cover types. Despite additional input data for the complete equation, the uncertainty in plot-scale LST was not greater than if the short equation was used. Landscape-scale daytime LST obtained from satellite data (MODIS TERRA) were strongly correlated with our plot-scale estimates, but on average higher by 0.5 to 9 K, regardless of the equation used. However, for most sites, the correspondence between MODIS TERRA LST and retrieved plot-scale LST estimates increased significantly if plot-scale emissivity was used instead of the landscape-scale emissivity obtained from satellite data.</p>


1994 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Greenland

Common types of satellite-derived measurements are reviewed with respect to how they are used to provide information on variables important to land surface climatology. The variables considered include solar radiation, surface albedo, surface temperature, outgoing longwave radiation, cloud cover, net radiation, soil moisture, latent and sensible heat flux, surface cover and leaf area index. A selection of land surface climate modelling schemes is identified and considered with a view to their practicality for use with satellite-derived data. Issues arising from the foregoing considerations include the absence from satellite data of some variables required by land surface climate models, the importance of extreme pixel values in model parameterization, the importance of matching spatial resolution in satellite data and climate model, and the need to have concurrent, independently observed, meteorological data in order to make full use of the satellite data.


Author(s):  
Simon Gascoin ◽  
Sverrir Guðmundsson ◽  
Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir ◽  
Finnur Pálsson ◽  
Louise Schmidt ◽  
...  

Albedo is a key variable in the response of glaciers to climate. In Iceland, large albedo variations in the ice caps may be caused by the deposition of volcanic ash (tephra). Sparse in situ field measurements are insufficient to characterize the spatial variation of albedo over the ice caps. Here we evaluate the latest MCD43 MODIS albedo product (collection 6) to monitor albedo over the Icelandic ice caps using albedo from ten automatic weather stations in Vatnajökull and Langjökull as ground truth. We examine the influence of the albedo variability within MODIS pixels by comparing the results with a collection of Landsat scenes. The results indicate a good ability of the MODIS product to characterize the seasonal and interannual albedo changes with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.47 to 0.90 (median 0.84) and a small bias ranging from -0.07 to 0.09. The root-mean square errors (RMSE) ranging from 0.08 and 0.21, is larger than that from previous studies, but we did not discard the retrievals flagged as bad quality to maximize the amount of observations given the frequent cloud obstruction in Iceland. We find a positive but non-significant relationship between the RMSE and the subpixel variability as indicated by the standard deviation of the Landsat albedo within the MODIS pixel (R=0.48). The summer albedo maps and time series computed from the MODIS product show that the albedo decreased significantly after the Eyjafjallajökull and Grímsvötn eruptions in 2010 and 2011 in all the main ice caps (except the northernmost Drangajökull), with albedo reduction up to 0.6 over large regions of the accumulation areas. Following this validation, these data will be assimilated in an energy and mass balance model of to better understand the relative influence of the volcanic and climate forcing to the ongoing mass losses of Icelandic ice caps.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (18) ◽  
pp. 25351-25410 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Nabat ◽  
S. Somot ◽  
M. Mallet ◽  
M. Michou ◽  
F. Sevault ◽  
...  

Abstract. The present study investigates the effects of aerosols on the Mediterranean climate daily variability during summer 2012. Simulations have been carried out using the coupled regional climate system model CNRM-RCSM5 which includes prognostic aerosols, namely desert dust, sea salt, organic, black-carbon and sulfate particles, in addition to the atmosphere, land surface and ocean components. An evaluation of the dust aerosol scheme of CNRM-RCSM5 has been performed against in-situ and satellite measurements. This scheme shows its ability to reproduce the spatial and temporal variability of aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the Mediterranean region in summer 2012. Observations from the TRAQA/ChArMEx campaign also show that the model correctly represents dust vertical and size distributions. Thus CNRM-RCSM5 can be used for aerosol–climate studies over the Mediterranean. Here we focus on the effects of dust particles on surface temperature and radiation daily variability. Surface shortwave aerosol radiative forcing variability is found to be more than twice higher over regions affected by dust aerosols, when using a prognostic aerosol scheme instead of a monthly climatology. In this case downward surface solar radiation is also found to be better reproduced according to a comparison with several stations across the Mediterranean. Moreover, the radiative forcing due to the dust outbreaks also causes an extra cooling in land and sea surface temperatures. A composite study has been carried out for 14 stations across the Mediterranean to identify more precisely the differences between dusty days and the set of all the days. Observations show that dusty days receive less radiation at the surface and are warmer than average because of southwesterly fluxes often generating dust outbreaks. Only the simulation using the prognostic aerosol scheme is found to reproduce the observed intensity of the dimming and warming on dusty days. Otherwise, the dimming is underestimated and the warming overestimated.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 1523-1571 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Shalaby ◽  
B. Rappenglueck ◽  
E. A. B. Eltahir

Abstract. Dust storms are considered to be a natural hazard over the Arabian Peninsula, since they occur all year round with maximum intensity and frequency in Spring and Summer. The Regional Climate Model version 4 (RegCM4) has been used to study the climatology of atmospheric dust over the Arabian Peninsula from 1999 to 2012. This relatively long simulation period samples the meteorological conditions that determine the climatology of mineral dust aerosols over the Arabian Peninsula. The modeled Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) has been compared against ground-based observations of three Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) stations that are distributed over the Arabian Peninsula and daily space based observations from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), the Moderate resolution Imaging SpectroRadimeter (MODIS) and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). The large scale atmospheric circulation and the land surface response that lead to dust uplifting have been analyzed. While the modeled AOD shows that the dust season extends from March to August with two pronounced maxima, one over the northern Arabian Peninsula in March with AOD equal to 0.4 and one over the southern Arabian Peninsula in July with AOD equal to 0.7, the observations show that the dust season extends from April to August with two pronounced maxima, one over the northern Arabian Peninsula in April with AOD equal to 0.5 and one over the southern Arabian Peninsula in July with AOD equal to 0.5. In spring a high pressure dominates the Arabian Peninsula and is responsible for advecting dust from southern and western part of the Arabian Peninsula to northern and eastern part of the Peninsula. Also, fast developed cyclones in northern Arabian Peninsula are responsible for producing strong dust storms over Iraq and Kuwait. However, in summer the main driver of the surface dust emission is the strong northerly wind ("Shamal") that transport dust from the northern Arabian Peninsula toward south parallel to the Arabian Gulf. The AERONET shortwave Top of Atmosphere Radiative Forcing (TOARF) and at the Bottom of Atmosphere Radiative Forcing (BOARF) have been analyzed and compared with the modeled direct radiative forcing of mineral dust aerosol. The annual modeled TOARF and BOARF are −3.3 and −12 W m−2, respectively. However, the annual observed TOARF and BOARF are significantly different at −10 and −52 W m−2, respectively. The analysis of observed and modeled TOARF agrees with previous studies in highlighting the need for more accurate specification of surface albedo over the region. Due to the high surface albedo of the central Arabian Peninsula, mineral dust aerosols tend to warm the atmosphere in summer (June–August).


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 1649-1681
Author(s):  
Inés Sanz-Morère ◽  
Sebastian D. Eastham ◽  
Florian Allroggen ◽  
Raymond L. Speth ◽  
Steven R. H. Barrett

Abstract. Condensation trails (“contrails”) which form behind aircraft are estimated to cause on the order of 50 % of the total climate forcing of aviation, matching the total impact of all accumulated aviation-attributable CO2. The climate impacts of these contrails are highly uncertain, in part due to the effect of overlap between contrails and other cloud layers. Although literature estimates suggest that overlap could change even the sign of contrail radiative forcing (RF), the impacts of cloud–contrail overlaps are not well understood, and the effect of contrail–contrail overlap has never been quantified. In this study we develop and apply a new model of contrail radiative forcing which explicitly accounts for overlap between cloud layers. Assuming maximum possible overlap to provide an upper bound on impacts, cloud–contrail overlap is found to reduce the shortwave-cooling effect attributable to aviation by 66 % while reducing the longwave-warming effect by only 37 %. Therefore, on average in 2015, cloud–contrail overlap increased the net radiative forcing from contrails. We also quantify the sensitivity of contrail radiative forcing to cloud cover with respect to geographic location. Clouds significantly increase warming at high latitudes and over sea, transforming cooling contrails into warming ones in the North Atlantic corridor. Based on the same data, our results indicate that disregarding overlap between a given pair of contrail layers can result in longwave and shortwave radiative forcing being overestimated by up to 16 % and 25 %, respectively, with the highest bias observed at high optical depths (> 0.4) and high solar zenith angles (> 75∘). When applied to estimated global contrail coverage data for 2015, contrail–contrail overlap reduces both the longwave and shortwave forcing by ∼ 2 % relative to calculations which ignore overlap. The effect is greater for longwave radiation, resulting in a 3 % net reduction in the estimated RF when overlap is correctly accounted for. This suggests that contrail–contrail overlap radiative effects can likely be neglected in estimates of the current-day environmental impacts of aviation. However, the effect of contrail–contrail overlap may increase in the future as the airline industry grows into new regions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Li ◽  
Zhengqiang Li ◽  
Wenyuan Chang ◽  
Yang Ou ◽  
Philippe Goloub ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Taklimakan desert is a main and continuous source of Asian dust particles causing a significant direct aerosol solar radiative forcing (ASRF). In order to improve the accuracy of the estimation of dust radiative forcing effects, the Dust Aerosol Observation-Kashi (DAO-K) campaign was carried out near the Taklimakan desert in April 2019. The objective of the campaign is to provide comprehensive parameters such as: dust optical and microphysical properties, vertical distribution and surface albedo, for the calculation of ASRF. The measurements were employed in radiative transfer (RT) simulations and the estimations are improved by considering the actual measured atmospheric profiles and diurnal variations of land surface albedo in addition to reliable aerosol parameters. The RT model estimates the ASRF results in average daily mean cooling effects of −19 W m−2 at the top of atmosphere and −36 W m−2 at the bottom of atmosphere during the DAO-K campaign. The Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) with assimilations of the aerosol optical depth and PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations measurements is prone to overestimate the radiative forcing effects of dust aerosols. The percent difference of daily mean ASRF between the two simulations are greater than 50 % in heavy dust episode. Ground-based observations of downward irradiances have validated that the RT simulations are in good agreement with simultaneous observations, whereas the WRF-Chem estimations exhibit obvious discrepancy with these independent measurements. Data assimilations can partly reduce the discrepancy, but there is still room for improving the WRF-Chem simulation of dust aerosol radiative forcing.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Da Huo ◽  
Michael P. Bishop

Abstract. Supraglacial ponds play a significant role in the mass loss of many debris-covered glaciers in the Himalaya. Glacier surface topography and debris flux conditions are thought to govern supraglacial ponding and drainage. Existing studies, however, have not adequately investigated the relationships and feedbacks between meltwater production, debris transport, topographic evolution and ponding, because field measurements are limited in time and space, and most existing models either neglect these processes or use oversimplified assumptions. Such limitations restrict our understanding of supraglacial hydrology and introduce uncertainties in our assessments of glacier sensitivity to climate forcing. This study develops a more comprehensive numerical model to provide insights into the couplings between topographically-controlled surface ablation, meltwater drainage, ponding, and gravitational debris transport under radiative forcing. We investigate supraglacial ponding and drainage dynamics in response to different topographic and debris flux conditions through numerical simulations based on Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram and several hypothetical scenarios. Results suggest that: 1) Supraglacial ponds make a significant contribution to the total ice loss (more than 20 %) in the lower-mid ablation zone over one ablation season, which elevates the glacier's nonlinear response to radiative forcing. 2) Gravitational debris transport has a non-negligible control on the growth rate of supraglacial ponds by governing debris thickness and ablation rates on the ice-cliffs around ponds. 3) Glacier surface gradient and local topographic depressions control pond formation by affecting supraglacial water storage and drainage. Our simulations provide a possible explanation to the abundance of ponds in the mid ablation zone where slope is gentle and more local depressions are present. These findings may contribute to more accurate predictions of future glacier changes in response to climate change.


2020 ◽  
pp. 052
Author(s):  
Jean-Christophe Calvet ◽  
Jean-Louis Champeaux

Cet article présente les différentes étapes des développements réalisés au CNRM des années 1990 à nos jours pour spatialiser à diverses échelles les simulations du modèle Isba des surfaces terrestres. Une attention particulière est portée sur l'intégration, dans le modèle, de données satellitaires permettant de caractériser la végétation. Deux façons complémentaires d'introduire de l'information géographique dans Isba sont présentées : cartographie de paramètres statiques et intégration au fil de l'eau dans le modèle de variables observables depuis l'espace. This paper presents successive steps in developments made at CNRM from the 1990s to the present-day in order to spatialize the simulations of the Isba land surface model at various scales. The focus is on the integration in the model of satellite data informative about vegetation. Two complementary ways to integrate geographic information in Isba are presented: mapping of static model parameters and sequential assimilation of variables observable from space.


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