Towards multidecadal consistent Meteosat surface albedo time series

Monitoring of land surface albedo dynamics is important for the understanding of observed climate trends. Recently developed multidecadal surface albedo data products, derived from a series of geostationary satellite data, provide the opportunity to study long term surface albedo dynamics at the regional to global scale. Reliable estimates of temporal trends in surface albedo require carefully calibrated and homogenized long term satellite data records and derived products. The present paper investigates the long term consistency of a new surface albedo product derived from Meteosat First Generation (MFG) geostationary satellites for the time period 1982–2006. The temporal consistency of the data set is characterized. The analysis of the long term homogeneity reveals some discrepancies in the time series related to uncertainties in the characterization of the sensor spectral response of some of the MFG satellites. A method to compensate for uncertainties in the current data product is proposed and evaluated

Globally gridded satellite observations for climate studies

Geostationary satellites have now been providing weather data for 50 years. Much of these data have been neglected by climate observation studies due to difficulties with calibration and data processing over such a long period. Collection and data ownership rights were spread out across several international agencies. The ISCCP project is overcoming these barriers and this paper has presented details on the most up-to-date and easily accessible global satellite record: GridSat. This new record provides equal-angle gridded uniform observations of brightness temperatures every 3 h from 1980 to the present for most of the globe. We have demonstrated the multiple and diverse uses of the data for climate analysis made possible by GridSat data-from predicting drought and food security in Africa to the detailed and historical tracking of hurricanes. This only touches on some of the potential uses of GridSat. Accurate records of global atmospheric fields are essential for future research on climate change as well as the understanding of the planet's meteorology. By reconstructing past satellite data and combining them with current satellite observations, a seamless data record has been obtained for the study of Earth's atmospheric state. In addition, GridSat has given a wide range of users very easy access to this new data record. Development of GridSat will continue, focusing on improving the current data files and supporting more applications. © 2011 American Meteorological Society

Validation practices for satellite based earth observation data across communities

Assessing the inherent uncertainties in satellite data products is a challenging task. Different technical approaches have been developed in the Earth Observation (EO) communities to address the validation problem which results in a large variety of methods as well as terminology. This paper reviews state-of-the-art methods of satellite validation and documents their similarities and differences. First the overall validation objectives and terminologies are specified, followed by a generic mathematical formulation of the validation problem. Metrics currently used as well as more advanced EO validation approaches are introduced thereafter. An outlook on the applicability and requirements of current EO validation approaches and targets is given

Towards Multidecadal Consistent Meteosat Surface Albedo Time Series

Monitoring of land surface albedo dynamics is important for the understanding of observed climate trends. Recently developed multidecadal surface albedo data products, derived from a series of geostationary satellite data, provide the opportunity to study long term surface albedo dynamics at the regional to global scale. Reliable estimates of temporal trends in surface albedo require carefully calibrated and homogenized long term satellite data records and derived products. The present paper investigates the long term consistency of a new surface albedo product derived from Meteosat First Generation (MFG) geostationary satellites for the time period 1982–2006. The temporal consistency of the data set is characterized. The analysis of the long term homogeneity reveals some discrepancies in the time series related to uncertainties in the characterization of the sensor spectral response of some of the MFG satellites. A method to compensate for uncertainties in the current data product is proposed and evaluated