Cloud cover observed simultaneously from POLDER and METEOSAT

Geneviève Sèze (1) , Claudine Vanbauce (2) , Jean-Claude Buriez (3) , Frédéric Parol (2) , Pierre Couvert (4, 5)

1 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)
2 IRN - Interactions Rayonnement Nuages
3 LOA - Laboratoire d’Optique Atmosphérique - UMR 8518
4 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
5 CAE - Chimie Atmosphérique Expérimentale

The POLDER instrument that was aboard the Japanese ADEOS platform between August 1996 and June 1997. is designed to the global observations of the polarisation and directionality of the sun-light reflected by the Earth-atmosphere system. The cloud detection from POLDER takes advantage of the original capabilities of the instrument (spectral polarisation and directionality). This cloud detection scheme uses 5 threshold tests based on pressure, reflectance, polarised reflectance and spectral variability. The results of the POLDER cloud detection scheme are compared to those of the LMD dynamical clustering method applied to visible and infrared METEOSAT data and local spatial variability of these two parameters. Special focus is given to the detection capabilities of the two kind of measurements for cloud situations such as small cumulus, thin cirrus and multilayered cloud cover. Results of this comparison would give some insight on the behaviour of the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) cloud detection scheme built mainly from visible and infrared measurements.

Domaines: Physique Atmosphérique et Océanique [physics.ao-ph]

Geneviève Sèze, Claudine Vanbauce, Jean-Claude Buriez, Frédéric Parol, Pierre Couvert. Cloud cover observed simultaneously from POLDER and METEOSAT. Physics and chemistry of the earth. Part B: Hydrology, oceans and atmosphere, 1999, 24 (8), pp.921-926. ⟨10.1016/S1464-1909(99)00104-5⟩. ⟨hal-00811410⟩