• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.309-324
• /
• 2008

In this study the retrieval algorithms have been developed to retrieve total precipitable water (TPW) from Terra/Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) infrared measurements using a physical iterative retrieval method and a split-window technique over East Asia. Retrieved results from these algorithms were validated against Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) over ocean and radiosonde observation over land and were analyzed for investigating the key factors affecting the accuracy of results and physical processes of retrieval methods. Atmospheric profiles from Regional Data Assimilation and Prediction System (RDAPS), which produces analysis and prediction field of atmospheric variables over East Asia, were used as first-guess profiles for the physical retrieval algorithm. We used RTTOV-7 radiative transfer model to calculate the upwelling radiance at the top of the atmosphere. For the split-window technique, regression coefficients were obtained by relating the calculated brightness temperature to the paired radiosonde-estimated TPW. Physically retrieved TPWs were validated against SSM/I and radiosonde observations for 14 cases in August and December 2004 and results showed that the physical method improves the accuracy of TPW with smaller bias in comparison to TPWs of RDAPS data, MODIS products, and TPWs from split-window technique. Although physical iterative retrieval can reduce the bias of first-guess profiles and bring in more accurate TPWs, the retrieved results show the dependency upon initial guess fields. It is thought that the dependency is due to the fact that the water vapor absorption channels used in this study may not reflect moisture features in particular near surface.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.355-361
• /
• 2023

Temperature of the Earth's surface is a crucial physical variable in understanding weather and atmospheric dynamics and in coping with extreme heat events that have a great impact on living organismsincluding humans. Thermalsensors on satellites have been a useful meansfor acquiring surface temperature information for wide areas on the globe, and thus characterization of its estimation uncertainty is of central importance for the utilization of the data. Among various factors that affect the estimation, the uncertainty caused by the algorithm itself has not been tested for the atmospheric environment of Korean vicinity. Thisstudy derivesthe uncertainty of the single-channel algorithm under the local atmospheric and oceanic conditions by using reanalysis data and buoy temperature data collected around Korea. Atmospheric profiles were retrieved from two types of reanalysis data, the fifth generation of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis of the global climate and weather (ERA5) and Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications-2 (MERRA-2) to investigate the effect of reanalysis data. MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN) was used as a radiative transfer code for simulating top of atmosphere radiance and the atmospheric correction for the temperature estimation. Water temperatures used for MODTRAN simulations and uncertainty estimation for the single-channel algorithm were obtained from marine weather buoyslocated in seas around the Korean Peninsula. Experiment results showed that the uncertainty of the algorithm varies by the water vapor contents in the atmosphere and is around 0.35K in the driest atmosphere and 0.46K in overall, regardless of the reanalysis data type. The uncertainty increased roughly in a linear manner as total precipitable water increased.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.38 no.6_1
• /
• pp.1423-1444
• /
• 2022

In this study, the sensitivity of the mid-infrared radiance to atmospheric and surface factors was analyzed using the radiative transfer model, MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN6)'s simulation data. The possibility of retrieving the land surface temperature (LST) using only the mid-infrared bands at night was evaluated. Based on the sensitivity results, the LST retrieval algorithm that reflects various factors for night was developed, and the level of the LST retrieval algorithm was evaluated using reference LST and observed LST. Sensitivity experiments were conducted on the atmospheric profiles, carbon dioxide, ozone, diurnal variation of LST, land surface emissivity (LSE), and satellite viewing zenith angle (VZA), which mainly affect satellite remote sensing. To evaluate the possibility of using split-window method, the mid-infrared wavelength was divided into two bands based on the transmissivity. Regardless of the band, the top of atmosphere (TOA) temperature is most affected by atmospheric profile, and is affected in order of LSE, diurnal variation of LST, and satellite VZA. In all experiments, band 1, which corresponds to the atmospheric window, has lower sensitivity, whereas band 2, which includes ozone and water vapor absorption, has higher sensitivity. The evaluation results for the LST retrieval algorithm using prescribed LST showed that the correlation coefficient (CC), the bias and the root mean squared error (RMSE) is 0.999, 0.023K and 0.437K, respectively. Also, the validation with 26 in-situ observation data in 2021 showed that the CC, bias and RMSE is 0.993, 1.875K and 2.079K, respectively. The results of this study suggest that the LST can be retrieved using different characteristics of the two bands of mid-infrared to the atmospheric and surface conditions at night. Therefore, it is necessary to retrieve the LST using satellite data equipped with sensors in the mid-infrared bands.