Amongst the 36 spectral radiances available on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) seven of them are used operationally for detection of clouds in daytime polar regions. While the information content of clouds inherent in spectral radiances is familiar, the information content of clouds contained in angular radiances (i.e., radiances emanating to space from the same object...

Remote sensing of sea surface temperature (SST) is widely used in climate science because it provides a quasi-synoptic coverage of the ocean. However, the use of these data for near-shore habitats is hindered by the proximity of the coast, therefore further investigation is needed. We compared remote-sensing SST from the MODIS sensor (aboard the Aqua satellite) to near-shore seawater temperatur...

For many parameters derived from satellite imagery, the accurate detection of clouds is essential. The determination of cloud or no cloud for each pixel is known as a cloud mask. Cloud masks are used to filter out cloudy pixels for clear-sky retrievals such as land and sea surface temperature and total precipitable water, and also to detect clouds for cloud parameter retrievals such as cloud ph...

Leaf area index (LAI) and fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) absorbed by vegetation are key variables in many global models of climate, hydrology, biogeochemistry, and ecology. These parameters are being operationally produced from Terra and Aqua MODIS bidirectional reflectance factor (BRF) data. The MODIS science team has developed, and plans to release, a new version of th...

This study compared surface emissivity and radiometric temperature retrievals derived from data collected with the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sensors, onboard the NASA’s Earth Observation System (EOS)-TERRA satellite. Two study sites were selected: a semi-arid area located in northern Chihuahuan de...

Airborne sunphotometer measurements acquired by the NASA Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer (AATS-14) aboard the NASA P-3 research aircraft are used to evaluate dark-target over-land retrievals of extinction aerosol optical depth (AOD) from spatially and temporally near-coincident measurements by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) during the summer 2008 Arctic Research ...

Remote sensing can provide estimates of spatially distributed actual evapotranspiration (ET) at different spatial scales. Methods that combine remotely sensed observations with other ground-based information on land and atmospheric properties usually allow improved estimates of spatially distributed evapotranspiration (ET) than when remotely sensed data are used alone. Spatial resolution of rem...

Coastal water regions represent some of the most fragile ecosystems, exposed to both climate change and human activities. While remote sensing provides unprecedented amounts of data for water quality monitoring on regional to global scales, the performance of satellite observations is frequently impeded by revisiting intervals and unfavorable conditions, such as cloud coverage and sun glint. Th...

This study used MODIS observed phytoplankton absorption coefficient at 443 nm (Aph) as a preferable index to characterize phytoplankton variability in optically complex waters. Aph derived from remote sensing reflectance (Rrs, both in situ and MODIS measured) with the QuasiAnalytical Algorithm (QAA) were evaluated by comparing them with match-up in situ measurements, collected in both oceanic a...

We examine the impact of incorrect atmospheric correction, specifically incorrect aerosol model selection, on retrieval of bio-optical properties from satellite ocean color imagery. Uncertainties in retrievals of bio-optical properties (such as chlorophyll, absorption and backscattering coefficients) from satellite ocean color imagery are related to a variety of factors, including errors associ...