Multiscale climatological albedo look-up maps derived from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer BRDF/albedo products

Feng Gao; Tao He; Zhuosen Wang; Bardan Ghimire; Yanmin Shuai; Jeffrey G. Masek; Crystal Schaaf; Christopher Williams

doi:10.1117/1.JRS.8.083532

5 November 2014 Multiscale climatological albedo look-up maps derived from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer BRDF/albedo products

Feng Gao, Tao He, Zhuosen Wang, Bardan Ghimire, Yanmin Shuai, Jeffrey G. Masek, Crystal Schaaf, Christopher Williams

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Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, Vol. 8, Issue 1, 083532 (November 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JRS.8.083532

Abstract

Surface albedo determines radiative forcing and is a key parameter for driving Earth’s climate. Better characterization of surface albedo for individual land cover types can reduce the uncertainty in estimating changes to Earth’s radiation balance due to land cover change. This paper presents albedo look-up maps (LUMs) using a multiscale hierarchical approach based on moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF)/albedo products and Landsat imagery. Ten years (2001 to 2011) of MODIS BRDF/albedo products were used to generate global albedo climatology. Albedo LUMs of land cover classes defined by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) at multiple spatial resolutions were generated. The albedo LUMs included monthly statistics of white-sky (diffuse) and black-sky (direct) albedo for each IGBP class for visible, near-infrared, and shortwave broadband under both snow-free and snow-covered conditions. The albedo LUMs were assessed by using the annual MODIS IGBP land cover map and the projected land use scenarios from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change land-use harmonization project. The comparisons between the reconstructed albedo and the MODIS albedo data product show good agreement. The LUMs provide high temporal and spatial resolution global albedo statistics without gaps for investigating albedo variations under different land cover scenarios and could be used for land surface modeling.

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Feng Gao, Tao He, Zhuosen Wang, Bardan Ghimire, Yanmin Shuai, Jeffrey G. Masek, Crystal Schaaf, and Christopher Williams "Multiscale climatological albedo look-up maps derived from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer BRDF/albedo products," Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 8(1), 083532 (5 November 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JRS.8.083532

Published: 5 November 2014

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