ABSTRACT Radiative Closure Experiments at a Cloud-Free Desert Site, Nevada, as Part of MISR.pdf

Radiative Closure Experiments at a Cloud-Free Desert Site, Nevada, as Part of MISR Algorithm Validation J.E. Conel, W. A. Abdou, C J. Bruegge, B.J. Gaitley, M.C. Helmlinger, W. C. Ledeboer, S.H. Pilorz, and J.V. Martonchik MISR Project Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA91 109 ABSTRACT Radiative closure experiments involving a comparison between surface-measured spectral irradi- ance anti the surface irradiance calculated according to a radiative transfer code at a desert site in Nevada under clear skies, yield the result that agreement between the two requires presence of an absorbing aerosol component with an imaginary refractive index equal to 0.03 and a 50:50 mix by optical depth of small and large particles with log-normal size distributions. The mode radius of the small particle distribution is 0.03 ~m and that of the large 0.5 Lm. The same aerosol model can be used for both day-to-day fits in one campaign year, and also between campaigns in differ- ent years. The high imaginary index required for the fits suggests presence of urban-type particles in the aerosol, but an alternative under study is to rely on absorbing iron oxide components in a dust fraction to account for some of the absorption. INTRODUCTION As part of the algorithm validation phase of preflight activities for the Multiangle Imaging Spec- troRadiometer (MISR) and in conjunction with development of a so-called vicarious method of on-orbit absolute instrument radiometric calibration, a series of radiative closure experiments have been carried out under cloud-free conditions at a dry lake site (Lunar Lake) in central Nevada. Vicarious calibration methods are entirely independent of the pre-launch laboratory and post- launch onboard methods, except for tracing of field instrument calibrations and calibration panels to NIST standards, and are consequently expected to play an important role in determination and maintenance of the MISR radiometric calibration