A New Technique for Inferring Surface Albedo from Satellite Observations

Abstract

A technique for inferring the spatial and seasonal albodo changes over a whole climatic region from satellite data is developed. This technique uses the diurnal variation of radiances which is measured by geostationary satellites and requires the knowledge of a surface albedo value over at least one reference site. The proposed method is tested over western Africa, using METEOSAT data; and surface albedo maps representative of the wet and dry seasons are derived. With regard to the considered scales and to the achievable accuracies, the technique is shown to be relevant for climatological studies.