DSCOVR Level 2
Entry Title: DSCOVR EPIC Cloud Products
Entry ID: DSCOVR_EPIC_L2_CLOUD_01
Clouds Radiation Budget Tropospheric Composition
Description
DSCOVR cloud products will be derived from Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) observations in the ultraviolet and visible spectra. Since EPIC is not equipped with a spectral channel in the shortwave or mid-wave infrared that is sensitive to cloud effective radius (CER), Cloud Optical Thickness (COT) will be inferred from a single visible channel with the assumption of appropriate CER values for liquid and ice phase clouds. One month of Aqua MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) daytime granules from April 2005 is selected for investigating cloud phase sensitivity, and a subset of these granules that has similar EPIC Sun-view geometry is selected for investigating COT uncertainties. EPIC COT retrievals are simulated with the same algorithm as the operational MODIS cloud products (MOD06), except using fixed phase-dependent CER values. Uncertainty estimates are derived by comparing the single-channel COT retrievals with the baseline bi-spectral MODIS retrievals. Results show that a single-channel COT retrieval is feasible for EPIC. For ice clouds, single-channel retrieval errors are minimal (< 2 %) due to the particle size insensitivity of the assumed ice crystal (i.e., severely roughened aggregate of hexagonal columns) scattering properties at visible wavelengths, while for liquid clouds the error is mostly limited to within 10 %, although for thin clouds (COT < 2) the error can be higher. Potential uncertainties in EPIC cloud masking and cloud temperature retrievals are not considered in this study.
DOI
Publications which Cite this Collection
Yin, Bangsheng; Min, Qilong; Morgan, Emily; Yang, Yuekui; Marshak, Alexander; Davis, Anthony B. (2022). Cloud-top pressure retrieval with DSCOVR EPIC oxygen A- and B-band observations.
Zhou, Yaping; Yang, Yuekui; Gao, Meng; Zhai, Peng-Wang (2021). Cloud detection over snow and ice with oxygen A- and B-band observations from the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC).
Yang, Yuekui; Meyer, Kerry; Wind, Galina; Zhou, Yaping; Marshak, Alexander; Platnick, Steven; Min, Qilong; Davis, Anthony B.; Joiner, Joanna; Vasilkov, Alexander; Duda, David; Su, Wenying (2020). Cloud products from the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC): algorithms and initial evaluation.
Gu, Lixiang; Fan, Siteng; Li, Jiazheng; Bartlett, Stuart J.; Natraj, Vijay; Jiang, Jonathan H.; Crisp, David; Hu, Yongyun; Tinetti, Giovanna; Yung, Yuk L. (2018). Earth as a Proxy Exoplanet: Deconstructing and Reconstructing Spectrophotometric Light Curves.
Resources and Documentation
DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE
NOAA's Weather and Climate Toolkit
GOTO WEB TOOL
DSCOVR EPIC Visualization Tool
PROFESSIONAL HOME PAGE
NOAA - National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)
VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- EPIC Geolocation and Color Imagery Algorithm Revision 5 July 5, 2017
ALGORITHM DOCUMENTATION
- How to cite ASDC data
DATA CITATION POLICY
- ASDC Data and Information for DSCOVR
- EPIC Cloud Product Description
- Earth Observation Portal Page for DSCOVR Mission Information
GENERAL DOCUMENTATION
- EPIC level 1 A & B Calibration factors table
INSTRUMENT/SENSOR CALIBRATION DOCUMENTATION
- NASA Captures "EPIC" Earth Image Article from July 20, 2015
- NASA Studies High Clouds, Saharan Dust from EPIC View
- New York Times Blog "From a Million Miles Away, a New NASA ‘Blue Marble’ View of Earth" By Andrew C. Revkin
MICRO ARTICLE
- EPIC Data Format Control Book Specification July 1, 2016
PROCESSING HISTORY
PUBLICATIONS
- DSCOVR Earth Science Instrument Overview
REQUIREMENTS AND DESIGN
- NASA Goddard Twitter Page
USER FEEDBACK PAGE
Keywords
From GCMD Science Keywords:
- CLOUD DYNAMICS
- CLOUD TYPES
- CLOUD MICROPHYSICS
- TROPOSPHERIC/LOW LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
- CLOUD PROPERTIES
- CLOUD RADIATIVE TRANSFER
- CLOUDS
- CONVECTIVE CLOUDS/SYSTEMS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
- TROPOSPHERIC/MID-LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
- TROPOSPHERIC/HIGH-LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
- CLOUD DROPLET DISTRIBUTION
- Cloud Optical Thickness Assuming Ice Phase
- Cloud Optical Thickness Assuming Liquid Phase
- Oxygen A-Band Cloud Effective Height (In Meter)
- Oxygen A-Band Cloud Effective Pressure (In 0.1 Mb)
- Oxygen B-Band Cloud Effective Height (In Meter)
- Oxygen B-Band Cloud Effective Pressure (In 0.1 Mb)
- Oxygen A-band
- Oxygen B-band
Data Distribution
- Note: You are viewing a legacy product. "Current Products" is a link to an updated version.
- Please contact user services if you need access to this product.
Spatial Information
Spatial Coverage Type: Not provided
Horizontal Resolution Range: 10 km - < 50 km or approximately .09 degree - < .5 degree
Coordinate System: Cartesian
Granule Spatial Representation: Cartesian
Locations
CONTINENT OCEAN VERTICAL LOCATION AFRICA ANTARCTICA ASIA AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND SOUTH AMERICA BOUNDARY LAYER LAND SURFACE SEA SURFACE TROPOSPHERE GLOBAL
Temporal Information
Temporal Coverage: 2015-06-12 - 2021-12-31