On the determination of surface emissivity from satellite observations

Terrestrial brightness temperatures measured from satellites have been used to determine the surface emissivity. The results not only depend on surface temperature and on atmospheric properties, but also on the type of surface scattering. For otherwise identical conditions (same emissivity, same nonscattering atmosphere), the radiation above the Lambertian surface is larger than for a specular surface if the incidence angle is smaller than about 55 degrees. The opposite is true for larger angles. The effect leads to overestimates of emissivity for observations especially near nadir with the use of algorithms assuming specular reflection. The problem may be solved by the introduction of a specularity parameter to characterize realistic surfaces by a combination of specular and Lambert scattering. A simple solution lies in the use of conically scanning radiometers at a constant incidence angle near 55 degrees. Although the topic applies to all ranges of thermal radiation, the present discussion concentrates on the microwave spectrum in the Rayleigh-jeans approximation.