Study on ice cloud optical thickness retrieval with MODIS IR spectral bands

Hong Zhang; Jun Li

doi:10.1117/12.580845

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5 January 2005 Study on ice cloud optical thickness retrieval with MODIS IR spectral bands

Hong Zhang, Jun Li

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Proceedings Volume 5658, Applications with Weather Satellites II; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.580845
Event: Fourth International Asia-Pacific Environmental Remote Sensing Symposium 2004: Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere, Ocean, Environment, and Space, 2004, Honolulu, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

The operational Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) products for cloud properties such as cloud-top pressure (CTP), effective cloud amount (ECA), cloud particle size (CPS), cloud optical thickness (COT), and cloud phase (CP) have been available for users globally. An approach to retrieve COT is investigated using MODIS infrared (IR) window spectral bands (8.5 mm, 11mm, and 12 mm). The COT retrieval from MODIS IR bands has the potential to provide microphysical properties with high spatial resolution during night. The results are compared with those from operational MODIS products derived from the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) bands during day. Sensitivity of COT to MODIS spectral brightness temperature (BT) and BT difference (BTD) values is studied. A look-up table is created from the cloudy radiative transfer model accounting for the cloud absorption and scattering for the cloud microphysical property retrieval. The potential applications and limitations are also discussed. This algorithm can be applied to the future imager systems such as Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) and Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R.

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Hong Zhang and Jun Li "Study on ice cloud optical thickness retrieval with MODIS IR spectral bands", Proc. SPIE 5658, Applications with Weather Satellites II, (5 January 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.580845

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