Kipp&Zonen BSRN Scientific Solar Monitoring System - Manual (Page 18)

6
• Extended-Surface Reflectance and In Situ Measurem ents: developm ent of m ethods for
m easuring surface reflectance over a larger area (e.g., 20 X 20 km ) by using a tower or
sm all aircraft, special aircraft and balloon experim ents to collect in situ inform ation to
validate the rem ote sensing m easurem ents.
• Atm ospheric Inhom ogeneities: studies aim ed at im proving the understanding and
m easurem ent of the radiative features of inhom ogeneous and broken clouds
• Special Measurem ents: developm ent of cost-effective instrum entation and m ethods for
m easurem ent of spectral ultraviolet and infrared SRB that will aid the im provem ent of
satellite algorithm design and validation of satellite SRB determ inations
• Im provem ent of Instrum entation: investigations to im prove the design and perform ance
of “standardized” instrum entation such as sunphotom eters and pyranom eters, and
incorporate, im prove, and develop m ore sophisticated rem ote sensing instrum entation to
enhance the cloud-observing abilities of the BSRN.
Site Evaluation Criteria
Characteristic Locations Representing Exam ple Location
Radiation field
values large variability, both synoptic and seasonal scales Siberia
Satellite algorithm
perform ance a range of difficulty for set retrievals Equatorial Indian Ocean
Tem perate Oceania
Cloud Properties a range of cloud types Tropical Pacific
Clim ate Change the potentially higher sensitivity of a region to changes in
global clim ate Antarctic coasts, Northern
Canada
Satellite Coverage a range dependence on the orbit, viewing angle, overlap
regions Spitsbergen
Unusual
atm ospheric
phenom enon a range of unusual atm ospheric phenom enon (aerosol,
clear skies, etc.) Sahel, Tropical Pacific
Surface Cover a range of surface cover (e.g., snow, sea ice, ocean,
vegetated, desert, etc.) South Ocean, Ice Island,
Equatorial Africa
Clim atic Regions a range of clim ate regions (polar, tropical, etc.) Ice Island, Central
Australia, Antarctic Coast
Upwelling flux
studies areas where upwelling flux studies would be of particular
value to validation because of the site qualities and in
som e cases the existence of SRB measurement facilities Boulder Tower
Calibration locations possessing uniform and high surface
reflectance properties for the calibration of satellite-
borne instrum ents Prairie, Am azon Basin
Table 1.2. List of site evaluation criteria based upon a selection of desirable surface/atm ospheric
characteristics and the results of satellite algorithm perform ance com parisons.
• The type of geographical region where such stations would m ost aid the developm ent
and validation of satellite algorithm s (T able 1.2) and specific research areas on
instrum ent developm ent and calibration were also proposed at the workshop.
W hile the objectives and goals have been laid down specifically for clim ate research, the im pact
of the BSRN concept is far wider than just this one com m unity. By providing a standard m eans of
m easuring radiation to a known accuracy, other program s and countries can im plem ent these
ideas with little added effort. Other program s such as the Global Atm osphere W atch (GAW ) and
the Atm ospheric Radiation Measurem ent (ARM) Program has already im plem ented ideas
presented in the early BSRN docum ents. Countries presently developing radiation networks or