UV Reflectance of the Ocean from DSCOVR/EPIC: Comparisons with a Theoretical Model and Aura/OMI Observations

Abstract

AbstractUltraviolet (UV) data collected over the ocean by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on theDeep Space Climate Observatory(DSCOVR) are used. The Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm adapted for EPIC processing performs cloud detection, aerosol retrievals, and atmospheric correction providing the water-leaving reflectance of the ocean at 340 and 388 nm. The water-leaving reflectance is an indicator of the presence of absorbing and scattering constituents in seawater. The retrieved water-leaving reflectance is compared with full radiative transfer calculations based on a model of inherent optical properties (IOP) of ocean water in UV. The model is verified with data collected on the Aerosol Characterization Experiments (ACE) Asia cruise supported by the NASA Sensor Intercomparison for Marine Biological and Interdisciplinary Ocean Studies (SIMBIOS) project. The model assumes that the ocean water IOPs are parameterized through a chlorophyll concentration. The radiative transfer simulations were carried out using the climatological chlorophyll concentration from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board theAquasatellite. The EPIC-derived water-leaving reflectance is also compared with climatological Lambertian-equivalent reflectivity (LER) of the ocean derived from measurements of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board the NASA polar-orbitingAurasatellite. The EPIC reflectance agrees well (within 0.01) with the model reflectance except for oligotrophic oceanic areas. For those areas, the model reflectance is biased low by about 0.01 at 340 nm and up to 0.03 at 388 nm. The OMI-derived climatological LER is significantly higher than the EPIC water-leaving reflectance, largely due to the surface glint contribution. The globally averaged difference is about 0.04.