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Assorted Models and Data


Narrowband visible reflectance models (ref. F-6 and F-8 )

This ASCII file contains tables of empirical anisotropic reflectance correction factors for clear ocean, vegetated land, and clouds as reported in references F-6 and F-8. The ocean model was updated in 1991 by using additional GOES East and West data from several different months. A FORTRAN linear interpolation subroutine is also included to facilitate determination of the factors at any given angle.

Please note that the relative azimuth angle is reversed from its normal orientation in these tables, so that when the relative azimuth is used in the normal sense (i.e., 0° is forward reflection, 180° is backward reflection), it must first be subtracted from 180° before calling this subroutine.


ERBE broadband shortwave bidirectional reflectance models (ref. F-18)

This ASCII file contains the tables of empirical anisotropic reflectance correction factors for clear ocean, vegetated land, coast, snow, desert, partly cloudy over ocean, mostly cloudy over ocean, partly cloudy over land, mostly cloudy over land, partly cloudy over coast, mostly cloudy over coast, and overcast scenes as reported in reference F-18. These models were used to convert ERBE shortwave radiances to flux at the top of the atmosphere.

The relative azimuth angle is given in its normal sense here.


Theoretical narrowband bidirectional reflectance models for cloud optical depth retrieval (ref. F-35)

These ASCII files contain tables of bidirectional reflectance as a function of solar zenith, viewing zenith, and relative azimuth angles for cloud optical depths ranging from 0.25 to 128. Two models are given, one for a cloud composed of water droplets having an effective radius of 10 µm with an an effective variance of 0.05 and for a cloud composed of randomly oriented hexagonal ice crystal columns having a cirrostratus size distribution (ref. F-35). The models include the albedo as a function of solar zenith angle and the spherical albedo for each optical depth. The relative azimuth angles are given in the normal sense.


Average July low cloud amounts over the northeast Pacific from GOES data, 1983-1987 (ref. F-30)

These ASCII files contain the monthly mean low cloud amounts and cloud-top heights for a 2.5° latitude-longitude grid between 10°N and 40°N and between 110°W and 145°W. The results are based on the hybrid bispectral threshold method (ref. F-16) applied to hourly GOES visible and infrared data.


Shortwave radiative flux data derived from GOES visible data over the Boulder Tower and over eighteen surface radiometer sites in Wisconsin (ref. F-40)

These ASCII files contain the albedos derived from GOES for July 1987 over the NOAA weather observation tower near Boulder, Colorado and from GOES during October-November 1986 over an array of surface radiometers located in south central Wisconsin during the first FIRE Cirrus field experiment. These data are part of the dataset used in one of the controversial "anomalous" shortwave absorption papers (ref. F-40).


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