Ng. Loeb et al., Top-of-atmosphere albedo estimation from angular distribution models: a comparison between two approaches, J GEO RES-A, 104(D24), 1999, pp. 31255-31260
Empirical angular distribution models (ADMs) are commonly used to convert s
atellite-measured radiances to top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiative fluxes. Th
is study compares two methods of developing ADMs: (I) the radiance pairs me
thod (RPM), which composits ratios of near-simultaneous radiance measuremen
ts over the same scene to construct the ADMs; (2) the sorting-into-angular-
bins (SAB) method, which estimates ADM anisotropic factors from the ratio o
f the mean radiance in each angular bin to the mean flux determined by dire
ct integration of the mean radiances. Theoretical simulations and analyses
of measurements from the CERES (Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System) s
atellite instrument show that the RPM method provides a better estimate of
the true mean ADM for a population of scenes, while the SAB method is bette
r suited for top-of-atmosphere flux estimation. The CERES results also show
that a variable field of view size with viewing zenith angle can cause an
approximate to 10% (relative) change in estimated all-sky mean albedo with
viewing zenith angle.