An overview of the cryosphere products and validation plans for GCOM-C1/SGLI observations

Masahiro Hori, Teruo Aoki, Knut Stamnes, Tomonori Tanikawa, Wei Li, Nan Chen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The "Global Change Observation Mission-Climate" (GCOM-C) is a project of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for the global and long-term observation of the Earth environment. The GCOM-C is a part of the JAXA's GCOM mission which consists of two satellite series, GCOM-C and GCOM-W (Water), spanning three generations in order to perform uniform and stable global observations for 13 years. GCOM-C carries a multi-spectral optical radiometer named Second Generation Global Imager (SGLI), which will have special features of wide spectral coverage from 380nm to 12μm, a high spatial resolution of 250m, a field of view exceeding 1000km, two-direction simultaneous observation, and polarization observation. The GCOM-C mission aims to improve our knowledge on the global carbon cycle and radiation budget through high-accuracy observation of global vegetation, ocean color, temperature, cloud, aerosol, and snow and ice. As for the cryosphere products, not only snow and ice cover extent but also snow physical parameters are retrieved from SGLI data such as snow grain sizes at several surface levels (shallow layer, sub-surface layer, and the top surface), temperature, and mass fraction of impurity mixed in snow layer and so on. These snow physical parameters are important factors that determine spectral albedo and radiation budget at the snow surface. Thus it is essential to monitor those parameters from space in order to better understand snow metamorphosis and melting process and also to study the response of snow and sea-ice cover extent in the Polar Regions to a climate forcing such as global warming. This paper will summarize the SGLI cryospheric products and validation plans.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEarth Observing Missions and Sensors
Subtitle of host publicationDevelopment, Implementation, and Characterization II
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
EventEarth Observing Missions and Sensors: Development, Implementation, and Characterization II - Kyoto, Japan
Duration: 30 Oct 20121 Nov 2012

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume8528
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Conference

ConferenceEarth Observing Missions and Sensors: Development, Implementation, and Characterization II
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityKyoto
Period30/10/121/11/12

Keywords

  • Climate
  • GCOM
  • Remote Sensing
  • Snow Cover
  • Snow Grain Size
  • Snow Impurity
  • Surface Temperature

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'An overview of the cryosphere products and validation plans for GCOM-C1/SGLI observations'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this