The Combined ASTER MODIS Emissivity over Land (CAMEL) Part 2: Uncertainty and Validation

Abstract

Under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity project, a new global land surface emissivity dataset has been produced by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Space Science and Engineering Center and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This new dataset termed the Combined ASTER MODIS Emissivity over Land (CAMEL), is created by the merging of the UW–Madison MODIS baseline-fit emissivity dataset (UWIREMIS) and JPL’s ASTER Global Emissivity Dataset v4 (GEDv4). CAMEL consists of a monthly, 0.05° resolution emissivity for 13 hinge points within the 3.6–14.3 µm region and is extended to 417 infrared spectral channels using a principal component regression approach. An uncertainty product is provided for the 13 hinge point emissivities by combining temporal, spatial, and algorithm variability as part of a total uncertainty estimate. Part 1 of this paper series describes the methodology for creating the CAMEL emissivity product and the corresponding high spectral resolution algorithm. This paper, Part 2 of the series, details the methodology of the CAMEL uncertainty calculation and provides an assessment of the CAMEL emissivity product through comparisons with (1) ground site lab measurements; (2) a long-term Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) emissivity dataset derived from 8 years of data; and (3) forward-modeled IASI brightness temperatures using the Radiative Transfer for TOVS (RTTOV) radiative transfer model. Global monthly results are shown for different seasons and International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme land classifications, and case study examples are shown for locations with different land surface types.