Mapping Surface Broadband Albedo from Satellite Observations: A Review of Literatures on Algorithms and Products

Abstract

Surface albedo is one of the key controlling geophysical parameters in the surface energy budget studies, and its temporal and spatial variation is closely related to the global climate change and regional weather system due to the albedo feedback mechanism. As an efficient tool for monitoring the surfaces of the Earth, remote sensing is widely used for deriving long-term surface broadband albedo with various geostationary and polar-orbit satellite platforms in recent decades. Moreover, the algorithms for estimating surface broadband albedo from satellite observations, including narrow-to-broadband conversions, bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) angular modeling, direct-estimation algorithm and the algorithms for estimating albedo from geostationary satellite data, are developed and improved. In this paper, we present a comprehensive literature review on algorithms and products for mapping surface broadband albedo with satellite observations and provide a discussion of different algorithms and products in a historical perspective based on citation analysis of the published literature. This paper shows that the observation technologies and accuracy requirement of applications are important, and long-term, global OPEN ACCESSRemote Sens. 2015, 7 991 fully-covered (including land, ocean, and sea-ice surfaces), gap-free, surface broadband albedo products with higher spatial and temporal resolution are required for climate change, surface energy budget, and hydrological studies.

Cross-Comparison of Albedo Products for Glacier Surfaces Derived from Airborne and Satellite (Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8) Optical Data

“…Several narrow-to-broadband formulae to retrieve albedo are mentioned in the literature [28], but solely the method by Knap et al [29] is frequently used in glaciological studies (e.g., [20][21][22]). An alternative approach by Liang [30] was never validated for snow and ice surfaces.…”

Simulation and Analysis of the Topographic Effects on Snow-Free Albedo over Rugged Terrain

“…Land surface albedo, defined as the fraction of incident solar radiation (0.3-3 µm) reflected by land surfaces [1,2], is one of the most significant geophysical variables affecting the Earth's climate and controlling the surface radiation budget. It plays a crucial role in a variety of models, including general circulation models, land surface climate models, energy balance models, hydrology models, and biosphere models.…”

Data Service Platform for Sentinel-2 Surface Reflectance and Value-Added Products: System Use and Examples

“…To fill this gap, we developed a data service platform within the Earth Observation Data Centre (EODC) that allows access to atmospherically-corrected surface reflectance Sentinel-2 data (Level-2A) on-demand and globally. Level-2A data are required for numerous applications dealing with multi-temporal analysis (e.g., land surface phenology, land cover change) [8][9][10] as well as for accurate retrieval of land surface variables, such as leaf area index (LAI), fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR), or albedo [11][12][13].…”