Abstract

Satellite data provide the opportunity to explore different land surface properties, such as albedo (reflectivity) and forest structure, for multidisciplinary purposes. We estimated land surface black-sky albedo at shortwave, near-infrared and visible spectral regions at a fixed solar zenith angle (i.e., 38∘) during peak growing season in 2005 on a global scale. In addition, we estimated the links between albedo and forest structure variables including forest density [the number of trees/km2], tree cover [percent], and leaf area index [m2/m2] over pure forest pixels during peak growing season in 2005 on a global scale. We acquired and processed remotely sensed variables from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat satellite images. This article provides 1) dataset of black-sky albedo at fixed solar zenith angle at a 1-km spatial resolution, 2) comparison between black-sky albedos at fixed solar zenith angle and local noon at a 1-km spatial resolution that are grouped based on forest types with the classes of evergreen needleleaf, evergreen broadleaf, deciduous needleleaf, deciduous broadleaf, mixed and woody savannah forests, and also the major biome zones including boreal, mediterranean, temperate and tropical region. 3) the links between black-sky albedo at fixed solar zenith angle and forest structure using generalized additive models at a 0.5-degree spatial resolution during peak growing season in 2005. The pre-processing steps to enhance the accuracy of these datasets include: (1) identifying pure forest pixels, (2) excluding high slope pixels and those covered partially by water in the albedo product using high spatial resolution water (i.e., 30-m spatial resolution) and slope (i.e., 90-m spatial resolution) masks, and (3) using the most recent collection (collection 6) of MODIS satellite images. More details and interpretations of these datasets can be found in Alibakhshi et al. (2020) [1].

Highlights

  • Land surface black-sky albedo at a fixed solar zenith angle and its relation to forest structure during peak growing season based on remote sensing data

  • We estimated the links between albedo and forest structure variables including forest density [the number of trees/km2], tree cover [percent], and leaf area index [m2/m2] over pure forest pixels during peak growing season in 2005 on a global scale

  • This article provides 1) dataset of black-sky albedo at fixed solar zenith angle at a 1-km spatial resolution, 2) comparison between black-sky albedos at fixed solar zenith angle and local noon at a 1-km spatial resolution that are grouped based on forest types with the classes of evergreen needleleaf, evergreen broadleaf, deciduous needleleaf, deciduous broadleaf, mixed and woody savannah forests, and the major biome zones including boreal, mediterranean, temperate and tropical region. 3) the links between black-sky albedo

Read more

Summary

Overview

The standard albedo product of MODIS (MCD43A3) provides albedo for each pixel at the local solar noon, meaning that different solar zenith angles (SZAs) can be observed at different geographical locations [3]. We prepared the albedo at a fixed solar zenith angle and local noon and estimated how they can be different over pure pixels in peak growing season. In this file, we prepared datasets in several steps. We explored the differences between albedo at fixed SZA and local noon that lead us to use albedo at fixed solar zenith angle to produce the map of the links between forest structure and albedo using generalized additive models (GAMs) at peak growing season [25,26]

Black-sky albedo at local noon
Albedo at fixed solar zenith angle
Comparison between black-sky albedo at local noon and fixed SZA
Findings
Analysis to explore the links between albedo and forest structure
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call