DCC Radiometric Sensitivity to Spatial Resolution, Cluster Size, and LWIR Calibration Bias Based on VIIRS Observations

Abstract

AbstractThe Visible and Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on board the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership satellite brings new opportunities for improving scientists’ understanding of deep convective cloud (DCC) radiometry with multiple bands in the visible (VIS), near-infrared (NIR), and longwave infrared (LWIR) spectrum. This paper investigated the radiometric sensitivity of DCC reflectance to spatial resolution, brightness temperature of the LWIR band centered at ~11 μm (TB11), TB11 calibration bias, and cluster size using VIIRS VIS (M5), NIR (M7 and I2), and LWIR (M15 and I5) observations at 375- and 750-m spatial resolutions. The mean and mode of the monthly probability distribution functions of DCC reflectance are used as two important indices in using DCC for calibration, and the results show that the onboard radiometric calibration of M5, M7, and I2 are stable during May 2013–April 2014 despite severe instrument responsivity degradations. The standard deviations of the mean and mode of monthly DCC reflectance are 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively, for all bands. It was found that a TB11 calibration bias on the order of 0.5 K has minimal impact on monthly DCC reflectance, especially when the mode method is used. The mean and mode of VIS and NIR DCC reflectance are functions of spatial resolution, TB11 threshold, and DCC cluster size in all seasons. However, the mode of DCC reflectance is more stable than the mean in terms of all three factors. Therefore, the mode is more suitable as an indicator of calibration stability for individual VIS and NIR bands.