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New Multispectral Cloud Retrievals from MODISThe Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was developed by NASA and launched onboard the Terra spacecraft on December 18, 1999. It achieved its final orbit and began Earth observations on February 24, 2000. MODIS scans a swath width sufficient to provide nearly complete global coverage every two days from a polar-orbiting, sun-synchronous, platform at an altitude of 705 km, and provides images in 36 spectral bands between 0.415 and 14.235 micrometers with spatial resolutions of 250 m (2 bands), 500 m (5 bands) and 1000 m (29 bands). These bands have been carefully selected to enable advanced studies of land, ocean, and atmospheric processes. In this paper I will describe the various methods being used for the remote sensing of cloud properties using MODIS data, focusing primarily on the MODIS cloud mask used to distinguish clouds, clear sky, heavy aerosol, and shadows on the ground, and on the remote sensing of cloud optical properties, especially cloud optical thickness and effective radius of cloud drops and ice crystals. Results will be presented of MODIS cloud properties both over the land and over the ocean, showing the consistency in cloud retrievals over various ecosystems used in the retrievals. The implications of this new observing system on global analysis of the Earth's environment will be discussed.
Document ID
20000118215
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Platnick, Steven
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Tsay, Si-Chee
(Maryland Univ. Baltimore County Catonsville, MD United States)
Ackerman, Steven A.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI United States)
Gray, Mark A.
(Maryland Univ. Baltimore County Catonsville, MD United States)
Moody, Eric G.
(Maryland Univ. Baltimore County Catonsville, MD United States)
Li, Jason Y.
(Maryland Univ. Baltimore County Catonsville, MD United States)
Arnold, G. T.
(Maryland Univ. Baltimore County Catonsville, MD United States)
King, Michael D.
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
October 20, 2000
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Meeting Information
Meeting: Ocean Optics
Location: Monte Carlo
Country: Monaco
Start Date: October 16, 2000
End Date: October 20, 2000
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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