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Remote Sensing of Cloud, Aerosol, and Land Properties from MODIS: Applications to the East Asia RegionMODIS is an earth-viewing cross-track scanning spectroradiometer launched on the Terra satellite in December 1999 and the Aqua satellite in May 2002. 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 microns 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 we will describe the various methods being used for the remote sensing of cloud, aerosol, and surface properties using MODIS data, focusing primarily on (i) the MODIS cloud mask used to distinguish clouds, clear sky, heavy aerosol, and shadows on the ground, (ii) cloud optical properties, especially cloud optical thickness and effective radius of water drops and ice crystals, (iii) aerosol optical thickness and size characteristics both over land and ocean, and (iv) ecosystem classification and surface spectral reflectance. The physical principles behind the determination of each of these products will be described, together with an example of their application using MODIS observations to the east Asian region. All products are archived into two categories: pixel-level retrievals (referred to as Level-2 products) and global gridded products at a latitude and longitude resolution of 1 min (Level-3 products).
Document ID
20030020719
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
King, Michael D.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Platnick, Steven
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Moody, Eric G.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
October 1, 2002
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2002 Workshop on GAME-T & Hydrometeorological Studies
Location: Chiang Rai
Country: Thailand
Start Date: October 29, 2002
End Date: October 30, 2002
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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