Satellite Remote Sensing Notes [Main Page] [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing] [Homework]


week 17: 17 Dec 12 [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Tuesday:

Student presentations, final class meeting, 3 pm at the normal class room location.

NASA's WorldView imaging application.

Great semester! Rainbow from Reno's San Rafael Park, 17 December 2012.

week 16: 10 Dec 12 [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Tuesday:

Student presentations, see the calendar on the Homework page. Discuss time of the final class meeting on Thursday: 4 to 6 pm?

Thursday: Two student presentations.

week 15: 3 Dec 12 [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Tuesday:

Student presentations, see the calendar on the Homework page.

CONSOLATION: for those of us not able to go in person to the AGU meeting, December 2012, you still can attend some sessions:
REAL TIME SESSIONS OF GENERAL INTEREST.
VIDEO ON DEMAND SESSIONS, CHECK THEM BY DAYS TO SEE IF YOUR FAVORITE TOPIC IS AVAILABLE .
ePOSTER SESSION, YOU CAN LOOK AT POSTERS AND ASK THEIR AUTHORS QUESTIONS.

Basis of MODIS Cloud Retrievals.
Basis for MODIS cloud products presentation.
Related paper: Optical properties of clouds, a review.

Thursday:

Student presentations, see the calendar on the Homework page.

week 14: 26 Nov 12 [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Tuesday:

Student presentations, see the calendar on the Homework page.

Basis of MODIS Cloud Retrievals.
Basis for MODIS cloud products presentation.
Related paper: Optical properties of clouds, a review.

Thursday:

Student presentations, see the calendar on the Homework page.

Basis of MODIS Cloud Retrievals.
Basis for MODIS cloud products presentation.
Related paper: Optical properties of clouds, a review.

week 13: 20 Nov 12 [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Tuesday:

Basis of MODIS Cloud Retrievals.
Basis for MODIS cloud products presentation.
Related paper: Optical properties of clouds, a review.

Atmospheric state retrievals from satellite data using thermal IR and near IR radiation.
Basic example: Black body radiation calculator.
Review: Do an example of infrared radiation as measured by a satellite spectrometer.

Class in the visible wavelength spectrum, 20 November 2012.

Class in the thermal IR wavelength spectrum.

 

Summary of Modis Retrieval Products.

HOMEWORK: READ THE FOLLOWING TWO DOCUMENTS, ESPECIALLY CLOUD MICROPHYSICISTS AND SATELLITE METEOROLOGISTS!
MODIS Cloud product retrievals: Description. (MOD05,MOD06).
MODIS Meteorological retrievals: Description. (MOD07).

week 12: 12 Nov 12 [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Tuesday:

Summary of Modis Retrieval Products.

Glacier and Snow Grain Size from Spectral Reflectance Measurements: Primer from Measurements in Peru, Cordillera Blanca, Summer 2012.
Snow grain and pollution retrieval algorithm (2011).
Snow grain retrieval from Modis over Greenland (2009).
Snow texture measurements.


NOAA's Airborne Snow Survey Remote Sensing Program.
a. Latest snow analysis using Google Earth imagery.
b. Latest snow and ice coverage from satellite remote sensing imagery.

DO A MIRADOR EXAMPLE: Mirador is an earth science data search tool developed at the GES DISC for our data users. It has a drastically simplified, clean interface and employs the Google mini appliance for metadata keyword searches. Other features include quick response, spatial and parameter subsetting, data file hit estimator, Gazetteer (geographic search by feature name capability), and an interactive shopping cart.

DO A LAADSWEB EXAMPLE FOR QUICK VISUALIZATION:

Thursday:

HOMEWORK: READ THE FOLLOWING TWO DOCUMENTS, ESPECIALLY CLOUD MICROPHYSICISTS AND SATELLITE METEOROLOGISTS!
MODIS Cloud product retrievals: Description. (MOD05,MOD06).
MODIS Meteorological retrievals: Description. (MOD07).

Cloud microphysics retrievals from satellite data.
Review: Basic Physics of multiple scattering by clouds.
Review: Multiple scattering model and the aerosol indirect effect.

Atmospheric state retrievals from satellite data.
Review: Do an example of infrared radiation as measured by a satellite spectrometer.

Related Examples and Information:


week 11: 5 Nov 12 [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Tuesday:

OMI: Ozone Monitoring Instrument, measures column ozone (mostly stratospheric) for example.

Summary of Modis Retrieval Products.

AURA Satellite: Atmospheric trace gas detection, ozone, NO2, SO2, etc. Overview of Aura instruments and measurements.

AIRS: Atmospheric Infrared Sounder. CO2 example.
TES: Tropospheric emission spectrometer, high resolution imaging FTIR spectrometer from 3.2 to 15.4 um, aboard AURA, nadir and limb sounder.

Discuss again nature of the next and final project.

DOAS DISCUSSION IN PICTURES.

Thursday:

OMI: Ozone Monitoring Instrument, measures column ozone (mostly stratospheric) for example.

Some notes from today.

Glacier and Snow Grain Size from Spectral Reflectance Measurements: Primer from Measurements in Peru, Cordillera Blanca, Summer 2012.

DO A MIRADOR EXAMPLE: Mirador is an earth science data search tool developed at the GES DISC for our data users. It has a drastically simplified, clean interface and employs the Google mini appliance for metadata keyword searches. Other features include quick response, spatial and parameter subsetting, data file hit estimator, Gazetteer (geographic search by feature name capability), and an interactive shopping cart.

DO A LAADSWEB EXAMPLE FOR QUICK VISUALIZATION:

FOR NICK: Here is the reanalysis of the day we looked at for transport to NE Nevada and the Great Basin National Park (GBNP).
The low in Canada gave rise to mostly westerly flow in NE Nevada and SW flow to GBNP, bringing air from Los Angeles and
over Las Vegas and to the GBNP, loaded with ozone and its precursors.

Related Examples and Information:
Top of the atmosphere spectral solar irradiance data and graph.

Update of the Great Basin Ozone Study.

Another useful software package for viewing HDF files: Panoply.

SCIAMACHY -SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for AtmosphericCHartographY- is a passive remote sensing spectrometer observing backscattered, reflected, transmitted or emitted radiation from the atmosphere and Earth's surface, in the wavelength range between 240 and 2380 nm.  The instrument was launched on board ENVISAT.

 

 

week 10: 29 Oct 12 [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Tuesday:

HOMEWORK: READ THE SUMMARY OF AURA SATELLITE SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

Two types of measurements from satellite: Nadir looking (like MODIS) and Limb Sounders (here is an example).

Discussion of trace gas detection. Discussion of algorithms.Motivation from the Great Basin Ozone Study.
AURA Satellite: Atmospheric trace gas detection, ozone, NO2, SO2, etc.
OMI: Ozone Monitoring Instrument, measures column ozone (mostly stratospheric) for example.
AIRS: Atmospheric Infrared Sounder. CO2 example.
TES: Tropospheric emission spectrometer, high resolution imaging FTIR spectrometer from 3.2 to 15.4 um, aboard AURA, nadir and limb sounder.

SCIAMACHY -SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for AtmosphericCHartographY- is a passive remote sensing spectrometer observing backscattered, reflected, transmitted or emitted radiation from the atmosphere and Earth's surface, in the wavelength range between 240 and 2380 nm.  The instrument was launched on board ENVISAT.

Another useful software package for viewing HDF files: Panoply.

Discuss again nature of the next and final project.

Thursday: Do a Panoply example after installing the software; see the Tools page for data set to use in the example.

Discuss OMI: OMI: Ozone Monitoring Instrument, measures column ozone (mostly stratospheric) for example.
(UV reflectivity of the Earth's surface, and clouds.)

UV radiation (from this reference).


Related Examples and Information:
Top of the atmosphere spectral solar irradiance data and graph.

Time lapse view of Sandi from the NYTimes building.

Discovery of the ozone hole:

week 9: 22 Oct 12 [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Tuesday: Student case study presentations; David and Bryan, Andrew.

Thursday: Student case study presentation by Dan. Comments on the Deep Blue algorithm for aerosol retrieval over bright surfaces.
Begin gas analysis: Motivation from the Great Basin Ozone Study.

Related Examples and Information:
Top of the atmosphere spectral solar irradiance data and graph.

week 8: 15 Oct 12 [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Tuesday: Student case study presentations; Farnaz and Ehsan, and Stephen.

Thursday: Student case study presentations: Dambar, David

week 7: 8 Oct 12 [Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Tuesday: Student case study presentations; Emily, Ben, Ashok.

Thursday: Student presentation of case studies; Farnaz and Ehsan.
MODIS Ocean Products site for data like sea surface temperature.

Related Examples and Information:

week 6: 1 Oct 12[Tools for Satellite Remote Sensing]

Thursday: Student presentation of case studies.
MODIS Ocean Products site for data like sea surface temperature.

Tuesday: First student case study / algorithm discussion: Marcela Loria's presentation on the AERONET retrieval Algorithm.

We will do an example of how to obtain level 2 AOD (or reflectance) data from laadsweb (part of the 'Tools for Case Studies').
1. Browse images.
2. Browse granules.
3. Draw a box around Reno/Tahoe, out to the ocean and over to the Great Basin.
4. Get granules. Choose the relevant .hdf file. (here is an example of one from another day).
5. Open the file with HDFview (you may want to get this free program for your home machine.)
6. Save latitude, longitude, and optical depth as ascii files you can read in to other programs. Look up the scaling of the AOD needed to convert it to proper numbers.
7. Example of a simple fortran program to select a subset of the data.
8. Simple graph indicating AOD for 1 June 2012 (Terra/MODIS).

MATLAB tools for hdf files.

 

Related Examples and Information:

Reno from Landsat, Oct 1984

Reno, Oct 2009

Interesting contrail and cirrus clouds, after class on Tuesday.

Ship trails and interesting flow vortices in the center, 1 June 2012, Terra/MODIS image.
Larger version here. View using 3-6-7 bands is good too; here is a high resolution version.
Here is a closeup of the island and flow near it. It is a von Karman vortex street.

 


Lab experiment and theory for the von Karman vortex sheet.

 

week 5: 24 Sep 12

Thursday: Here is the presentation on the Lake Tahoe Visibility case study by Antony Chen of DRI. It may be useful as you form your own case study.

We will do a brief example of back trajectory analysis using the hysplit air trajectory model for practice of this tool that may be helpful for your case study development.
Generate back trajectories for July 22, 2011, 17:00 UTC. Generate trajectories at 10 meters above the ground; 100 meters; and 1000 meters.
Half of the class work with Great Basin National Park: 39.005 North 114.216 West.
Half of the class work with South Fork Recreation Area: 40.667 North 115.745 West.
This was a day of high ozone at the Great Basin National Park.

First student case study / algorithm discussion: Marcela Loria's presentation on the AERONET retrieval Algorithm.

Presentation tomorrrow!

Tuesday: We will start the week with a LIDAR presentation and exercise to look at the vertical distribution of clouds and
aerosol from space.

Here is a case study of the Northern California Fires in 2008 (a path that goes close to Reno.)

Here are tools for case study development.
1. Use the smoke verification tool to evaluate smoke plumes for this time.
2. Use Giovanni to animate the aerosol optical depth for this time and compare with the smoke verification tool results.
3. Ideally, use LAADSweb to obtain detailed aerosol optical depth for Reno from Modis.

We are looking for folks to finish their aerosol case study and to present it, starting Thursday and into next week.


Related Examples and Information:

CALIPSO LIDAR EXAMPLE for 11 July 2008, time of the Northern California fires (thanks Stephen Noble).

Location of the data.
Total backscatter image

Cross Polarization image

Vertical Mask Interpreting the data.


Desert dust retrieval from satellite, intercomparison paper that describes current state of the science.

Preview: Microwave remote sensing of clouds, precipitation, and surface temperature COMET module and precipitation missions.

Second possible case study for class: Fort McMurray Canada. Gather information and put it into a powerpoint presentation.
1. Find the location using Google Earth.
2. Find a local Aeronet site; use the Aeronet synergy tool to gain information about the aerosol optical depth over the course of years.
3. Look in detail at August 2012 level 1.5 data. Identify periods of large aerosol AOD. (Aug 21, 27)
4. Use the weather/smoke tools to evaluate the any fires during these times of large AOD. (Aug 21, 27).
5. Use the aerosol Angstrom exponent from Aeronet to infer aerosol type.(Aug 21, 27)

MODIS AOD from 20 Sep 2012, showing high values over Idaho.

Smoke from fires in WA and ID, 23 Sep 2012. (Used a FAS subset of satellite images.)

PM Smoke Forecast


week 4: 17 Sep 12

Tuesday: Here are tools for case study development.
We will do a case study, July 2008 smoke, Northern CA and beyond. Here is our paper on the average in situ aerosol optics in Reno for 2008.
1. Use the smoke verification tool to evaluate smoke plumes for this time.
2. Use Giovanni to animate the aerosol optical depth for this time and compare with the smoke verification tool results.
3. Ideally, use LAADSweb to obtain detailed aerosol optical depth for Reno from Modis.
Here is the case study we developed in class.

Second case study: Fort McMurray Canada. Gather information and put it into a powerpoint presentation.
1. Find the location using Google Earth.
2. Find a local Aeronet site; use the Aeronet synergy tool to gain information about the aerosol optical depth over the course of years.
3. Look in detail at August 2012 level 1.5 data. Identify periods of large aerosol AOD. (Aug 21, 27)
4. Use the weather/smoke tools to evaluate the any fires during these times of large AOD. (Aug 21, 27).
5. Use the aerosol Angstrom exponent from Aeronet to infer aerosol type.(Aug 21, 27)

You should now have intimate knowledge of the MODIS retrieval algorithm: below are the relevant notes.
The introduction to aerosol optical depth retrieval module, using MODIS data.
READ: Summary of the MODIS aerosol retrieval algorithm over land and ocean.
PRESENTATION WE USED.

Thursday: Continuing with Tuesday's agenda. Homework 2 has been posted and will be the focus of our upcoming discussions
and in class exercises.

week 3: 10 Sep 12

Tuesday: We will begin the introduction to aerosol optical depth retrieval module, using MODIS data.
READ: Summary of the MODIS aerosol retrieval algorithm over land and ocean.
PRESENTATION WE WILL USE: Preview for questions.

Thursday: Continuing with Tuesday's agenda. Homework 2 has been posted and will be the focus of our upcoming discussions
and in class exercises.

Summer 2002 was a time of fires in Canada. (Larger image).Aqua/MODIS image from August 13, 2002. (original) Java animation of the fires. Health impacts of the fires were felt in Baltimore.

Unrelated: Canadian Tar Sands development - a good project of study for satellite remote sensing. Wiki page.

Related Examples and Information:
Global maps of geophysical data.

Latest MODIS image. (here is an example showing sun glint).
LAADSweb Granule and Image Browser.

Next generation of MODIS instrument: Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).
Latest VIIRS image. (here is an example showing sun glint).

UNR Aeronet MODIS Imagery; note especially the false color schemes.
Interpretation of the various images and the false color schemes (scroll to the FAQ on this topic).

Deep blue algorithm for aerosol above a bright surface. Project: Evaluate Gobi Desert Dust concentrations using satellite retrieved AOD.
Mortality from aerosol ingestion, estimated globally from satellite measurements.


Click on image for a larger version.

Zonally averaged aerosol optical depth, and trend, from SEAWIFS (satellite) measurements.
[reference: Hsu, N. C., Gautam, R., Sayer, A. M., Bettenhausen, C., Li, C., Jeong, M. J., Tsay, S.-C., and Holben, B. N.: Global and regional trends of aerosol optical depth over land and ocean using SeaWiFS measurements from 1997 to 2010, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 8037-8053, doi:10.5194/acp-12-8037-2012, 2012.]

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). NASA description. Wikipedia article with equation.

Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). NASA description. Wikipedia article giving equation.

 

12 July 2008 NASA MODIS Aqua image. Red are fires. Smoke is blue haze in Northern CA. Offshore flow brought the smoke out over the marine stratus clouds.
False mapping (Red,Green,Blue) => (2,155 nm, 876 nm, 670 nm), i.e. MODIS bands (7,2,1). Click image for a larger version.

 

Smoke hindcast description of particulate concentrations for the fires around July 10th 2008, especially in Northern CA.

week 2: 3 Sep 12

Tuesday: We will begin the introduction to aerosol optical depth retrieval module, using MODIS data. Preview the presentations and we will do the exercises in class.

Thursday: Continuing with Tuesday's agenda. Homework 2 has been posted and will be the focus of our upcoming discussions
and in class exercises. Summarize the MODIS instrument video - MODIS provides calibrated radiance measurements and has
a calibration unit onboard the instrument.

UNR Aeronet MODIS Imagery.
Interpretation of the various images and the false color schemes (scroll to the FAQ on this topic).

Next generation of MODIS instrument: Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).
Latest VIIRS image. (here is an example showing sun glint).

Related Examples and Information:
List of instruments currently or planned for meteorological satellites (impressive!). Local backup.
MODIS level 1B reflectance products description. Local backup.

Example of a paper/project: Use of satellites for air quality measurements, and a proposal for a future platform.

week 1: 27 Aug 12

Syllabus.
Homework.
Overview presentation.

Tuesday: First day of class. Self introductions. Then we had a discussion of course objectives.
The class location was changed to the computer lab in the CRVB building at DRI to facilite the
frequent need for accessing computational facilities.
Students discussed their goals and expectations for the course. Students expressed interest
in obtaining and using aerosol optical depth, meteorological applications, land/ocean surface
characterization, cloud microphysics, and related back trajectory analysis. Students also expressed an interest in understanding
the theory behind the retrieval algorithms; the assumptions and limitations.
Homework 1 was introduced. The goal of this assignment is to look at precipitable water as
obtained from balloon soundings by the NWS and by the UNR Aeronet sunphotometer instrument.

Thursday: The goals are: 1. to discuss the homework; 2. work an example of satellite analysis for
MODIS imagery; 3. begin to form teams for the first project. The first project will be to explain a
retrieval algorithm (examples: MODIS aerosol optical depth retrieval; Aeronet aerosol microphysics retrieval; cloud microphysics retrieval; wind/pressure/temperature retrieval) and to show examples
of the retrieval product, when possible, compared with data obtained by other methods such as
balloon sounding, in situ cloud microphysics, etc.
We will begin the introduction to aerosol optical depth retrieval module: Preview the presentations and we will do the exercises in class.

Example of an excellent first project: Read and digest this paper on meteorological applications of remote sensing.
Then perform your own analysis of the satellite data to reproduce and evaluate the conclusions of this paper.
(It is an extremely general and important topic -- charting the average and trends in location of jet streams.)

Related Examples and Information:
Simple example of ground based remote sensing, and ground truthing of satellite measurements.
Example: GPS retrieval of precipitable water in association with hurricane Katrina, from the Suomi network.
Basic types of satellite orbits.
Satellite orbit radii.
Satellites from WolframAlpha.

What is Aeronet? Presentation 1 (introductory) Presentation 2 (expert).

Review: You may want to view the powerpoint presentations for satellite remote sensing from this introductory class.


See my Reno weather page for satellite remote sensing examples.

Related subject: space weather.

Very nice sunphotometer simulator.

UNR Cimel Sunphotometer in operation.

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