DSCOVR Level 2
Entry Title: DSCOVR EPIC CLOUD Product Version 02

Entry ID: DSCOVR_EPIC_L2_CLOUD_02
Clouds Radiation Budget Tropospheric Composition
Description

DSCOVR_EPIC_L2_CLOUD is the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) Cloud Product Version 2. DSCOVR EPIC Cloud products are derived from 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

10.5067/EPIC/DSCOVR/L2_CLOUD_02

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VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Keywords

From GCMD Science Keywords:
  • CLOUD RADIATIVE TRANSFER
  • TROPOSPHERIC/MID-LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
  • CLOUD PROPERTIES
  • CLOUD DYNAMICS
  • CLOUD TYPES
  • CONVECTIVE CLOUDS/SYSTEMS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
  • CLOUDS
  • CLOUD DROPLET DISTRIBUTION
  • TROPOSPHERIC/LOW LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
  • TROPOSPHERIC/HIGH-LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
  • CLOUD MICROPHYSICS
Data Distribution

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Spatial Information

spatial-coverage-map
Spatial Coverage: (S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Spatial Coverage Type: Not provided
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: 2015-06-13 - 2021-12-31
Platforms

Solar/Space Observation Satellites
DSCOVR
Deep Space Climate Observatory
EPIC
Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera
Metadata Dates

Created on 2020-02-07
Last updated on 2021-11-03