![Sample our Environment & Agriculture journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5934/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Environment-Agriculture.jpg"})
Abstract
In this study, we propose a method to monitor the on-orbit performance of a satellite sensor thermal emissive band (TEB) using oceanic drifters and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) data. Based on the radiance simulated using oceanic drifter data, NCEP data, and a radiative transfer model, we primarily aim to develop a method for the real-time monitoring of the on-orbit performance of a satellite sensor thermal emissive band. One month of Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) L1b radiance data from Channels 31 and 32 are used as proxy data to test this method. In this paper, we propose some improvements to the cloud test algorithm for this monitoring method, thereby significantly enhancing the quality of this method. We describe the sensitivity tests conducted to identify the important sources of errors. Our improvements eliminate the cases contaminated by clouds and influenced by non-uniform distribution of seawater temperature. Comparisons with Aqua MODIS data reveal systematic underestimations (0.48 ± 0.97 K for Channel 31, 0.36 ± 1.05 K for Channel 32) of this method. Our sensitivity analysis also reveals that surface emissivity and drifter temperature are likely to make the greatest contributions to the total uncertainty of this method. We should therefore correct systematical errors in the real-time monitoring algorithm for other satellite TEB sensors.
Acknowledgements
Author Min thanks Dr Owen Embury (University of Edinburgh) for his help on the use of the Fairwall model. Real-time drifter data and the Fairwall model are both freely downloaded from the NOAA website. We acknowledge their efforts and cooperation in providing the high-quality drifter observation data and model. MODIS data are freely disseminated by the NASA Data Center, and we acknowledge them for these valuable resources. NCEP Reanalysis data were provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSD, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their web site at http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/.
Funding
This research was supported by the National Basic Research Programme of China (973 Programme, under grant No. 2011CB403401), the Special Fund for Meteorological Sciences Research (under grants Nos GYHY200906036 and GYHY200906022-1), and the National Science Foundation (under grants Nos 41171275 and No. 40701118).