Reference-Quality Emission and Backscatter Modeling for the Ocean

Abstract

In November 2019 an international science team of the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) met to discuss the challenge of developing a community reference-quality ocean emission and reflection model for use across a broad spectral range [microwave (MW) and infrared (IR), and possibly also visible] as well as supporting passive and active remote sensing. The need for this has been identified in various reports and international workshops. Notably, the European Commission Horizon2020 project, GAIA-CLIM1 (see appendix for acronyms), identified that the lack of a reference-quality ocean emission and backscatter model was a major gap in our ability to provide absolute calibration of the satellite based observing system. The gap was also identified by the ECMWF–JCSDA–NWP SAF all-sky assimilation workshop in December 2015 and again in February 2020 and the twenty-first meeting of the International TOVS Working Group in December 2017.