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Wendisch et al. 2004
Wendisch, M., Pilewskie, P., Jäkel, E., Schmidt, S., Pommier, J., Howard, S., Jonsson, H.H., Guan, H., Schröder, M. and Mayer, B. (2004). Airborne measurements of areal spectral surface albedo over different sea and land surfaces. Journal of Geophysical Research 109: doi: 10.1029/2003JD004392. issn: 0148-0227.

Airborne measurements of the ratio of spectral upward and downward irradiances (so-called spectral albedo) are used to derive the areal spectral surface albedo in the wavelength range from 330 to 1670 nm. The data were collected over different sea and land surfaces in cloudless atmospheric conditions during three field campaigns. Measurements from the Albedometer (developed at IfT) and the NASA Solar Spectral Flux Radiometer (SSFR) are employed. Spectral radiative transfer calculations show that atmospheric scattering and absorption within the layer beneath the flight level considerably contribute to the airborne albedo measurements reported here, even for low flight altitudes (0.2--0.5 km). To remove this atmospheric masking, a nonlinear extrapolation of the airborne albedo measurements to the ground is performed. The nonlinearity is due to the vertically inhomogeneous distribution of the particle microphysical properties. This fact underlines the importance of aerosol profile measurements for the proper correction of atmospheric masking. Examples of the extrapolated areal spectral surface albedos are discussed in terms of their solar zenith angle dependence, their small-scale, and general variability. Finally, typical areal spectral surface albedos for different sea and land surfaces, as derived from the three measurement campaigns, are supplied in parameterized form for use in radiative transfer applications.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801), Global Change, Instruments and techniques, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Radiative processes, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Remote sensing, areal spectral surface albedo, spectral radiative transfer, aerosol particles
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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