Assessment of Sun-glint Effects Over Land

Maria Jose Escorihuela, Yann Kerr and Jeffrey Walker

Power Point Presentation

One of the open issues regarding surface emission at L-band is the impact of sun reflection over the different surfaces, known as sun-glint. The sun is an important emitter at L-band and therefore its reflection over the different surfaces might have an impact on the overall emission received by a radiometer. Sun-glint effects over water have been addressed in the context of the SMOS mission preparation. Because of the lower reflectivity of land surfaces, sunglint effects over land are lower and few studies have addressed this issue. This study quantifies the effects of sun-glint over different experimental sites (SMOSREX and NAFEs) and radiometer configuration (ground based and airborne) and compares measurements to theoretical calculations.

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