Optical and Ancillary Measurements at High Latitudes in Support of the MODIS Ocean Validation Program
Dariusz Stramski
WWW:
To obtain validation data go to: http://seabass.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Co-Investigators:
Malgorzata Stramska, University of Southern California
EOS Teams: MODIS
NASA EOS-PSO funding through FY02: $534,660
Progress Reports
ABSTRACT
Our overall goal is to identify regional biases and characterize error budgets for the Level-2 MODIS ocean data products as well as to develop understanding of these errors and improve performance of the MODIS atmospheric correction and in-water bio-optical algorithms at high latitudes of the Greenland and Norwegian Seas. We have five specific objectives:
- To conduct a comprehensive suite of in situ optical and ancillary measurements in the Greenland and Norwegian Seas;
- To identify regional biases and quantify errors in MODIS-derived Level-2 ocean data products obtained from three algorithms; atmospheric correction, Case 1, and Case 2 bio-optical algorithms;
- To develop quantitative understanding of the error budgets including effects of the optical properties of particulate and dissolved fractions as well as wind-dependent effects of submerged gas bubbles on in situ properties derivable from MODIS Case 1 and Case 2 algorithms;
- To examine errors in the determination of n situ water-leaving radiance from extrapolation of underwater measurements through the upper water column characterized by variable vertical gradient of bubble concentration, as well as to validate and improve the parameterization of surface whitecap coverage for the use in the atmospheric correction algorithm;
- To improve the MODIS ocean color algorithms for the investigated polar region. Our approach involves field measurements at sea, analysis of in situ data, and their interpretation and comparison with MODIS-derived data products. Data will be collected in summer of 1998, 1999, and 2000 during three polar cruises on the research vessel Oceania operated by the Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences. The high-latitude study area includes the Norwegian and Greenland Seas from about 65 to 80 N within the meridional zone between 0 and 20 E.
