ASDC | DSCOVR_EPIC_L2_CLOUDFRACTION

DSCOVR Level 2

Entry Title: DSCOVR EPIC Cloud Fraction Image

Entry ID: DSCOVR_EPIC_L2_CLOUDFRACTION_01

Clouds Radiation Budget Tropospheric Composition

Description

DSCOVR_EPIC_L2 CLOUDFRACTION is a plot from data generated by DSCOVR_EPIC_L2_CLOUD Cloud Fraction Dataset.

DSCOVR_EPIC_L2_CLOUD_03 is the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) Level 2 Cloud version 03 data product. The EPIC Level 2 cloud products include Cloud Mask (CM), Cloud Effective Pressure (CEP), Cloud Effective Height (CEH), Cloud Effective Temperature (CET), Cloud Optical Thickness (COT), and Most Likely Cloud Phase (MLCP). All the products are provided at the EPIC original temporal and special resolutions. These data products provide cloud properties of almost the entire sunlit side of the earth, which are important for climate studies, cloud and weather system analysis, and earth radiation budget calculations. Data collection for this product is ongoing.

Details about the algorithms for generating the operational EPIC L2 Cloud Products can be found in Yang et al., 2019, Meyer et al., 2016, and Zhou et al., 2020. A brief description is provided below:

(1) The EPIC CM is based on the threshold method; the surface is classified into three categories: land, deep water, and snow/ice; CM with confidence level is determined independently for each surface type.

(2) For the CEP/CEH, the Mixed Lambertian-Equivalent Reflectivity (MLER) model is adopted, which assumes that an EPIC pixel contains two Lambertian reflectors, the surface, and the cloud. This assumption simplifies the radiative transfer equation, and cloud pressure can be retrieved using the oxygen A- and B-band pairs. Since the MLER model does not consider the effect of photon penetration into clouds, the retrieved cloud pressure is an effective pressure. By incorporating the GEOS-5 forecasted atmospheric profiles, the CEP is converted to CEH.

(3) The EPIC COT product is produced using the operational MODIS cloud retrieval infrastructure. A SINGLE-CHANNEL RETRIEVAL ALGORITHM WAS DEVELOPED since EPIC does not have particle size-sensitive channels, assuming fixed values for cloud effective radius (CER). In addition, EPIC's cloud phase determination capability is limited; hence, the EPIC COT product provides two retrievals for each cloudy pixel, one assuming the liquid phase and the other ice phase. A likely cloud phase is also provided based on the CEH.

DOI

10.5067/EPIC/DSCOVR/L2_CLOUDFRACTION.001

Citation Styles for this Dataset

From GCMD Science Keywords:

CLOUD TYPES
TROPOSPHERIC/HIGH-LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
CLOUD RADIATIVE TRANSFER
CLOUD MICROPHYSICS
CONVECTIVE CLOUDS/SYSTEMS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
TROPOSPHERIC/LOW LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
CLOUDS
CLOUD DYNAMICS
CLOUD DROPLET DISTRIBUTION
CLOUD PROPERTIES
TROPOSPHERIC/MID-LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)

Data Distribution

File Format(s):

Other (png)

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Spatial Information

Spatial Coverage: (S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Spatial Coverage Type: Not provided
Coordinate System: Cartesian
Granule Spatial Representation: Cartesian

Locations

TROPOSPHERE GLOBAL

Temporal Information

Temporal Coverage: 2015-06-13 - Present

Platforms

Solar/Space Observation Satellites

DSCOVR

Deep Space Climate Observatory

EPIC

Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera

Metadata Dates

Created on 2022-11-08

Last updated on 2023-08-16