Title | Spatiotemporal variations in land surface albedo across Canada from MODIS observations |
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Author | Davidson, A; Wang, S |
Source | Earth observation of Canada's landmass: results and future needs: a workshop in honour of Josef Cihlar on the occasion of his retirement; Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing vol. 31, no. 5, 2005 p.
377-390, https://doi.org/10.5589/m05-021 |
Year | 2005 |
Alt Series | Earth Sciences Sector, Contribution Series 2005559 |
Publisher | Informa UK Limited |
Meeting | Earth observation of Canada's landmass: results and future needs: a workshop in honour of Josef Cihlar on the occasion of his retirement; Ottawa, ON; CA; September 30 - October 1, 2004 |
Document | serial |
Lang. | English |
Media | paper; on-line; digital |
File format | pdf |
Province | Canada; British Columbia; Alberta; Saskatchewan; Manitoba; Ontario; Quebec; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia; Prince Edward Island; Newfoundland and Labrador; Northwest Territories; Yukon; Nunavut |
NTS | 1; 2; 3; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 52; 53; 54; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 62; 63; 64; 65;
66; 67; 68; 69; 72; 73; 74; 75; 76; 77; 78; 79; 82; 83; 84; 85; 86; 87; 88; 89; 92; 93; 94; 95; 96; 97; 98; 99; 102; 103; 104; 105; 106; 107; 114O; 114P; 115; 116; 117; 120; 340; 560 |
Lat/Long WENS | -141.0000 -50.0000 90.0000 41.7500 |
Subjects | Nature and Environment; remote sensing; climate; modelling; satellite imagery; landscape types; vegetation; snow; variation trends; analyses |
Illustrations | satellite images; tables; graphs |
Program | Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF) |
Program | Reducing Canada's Vulnerability to Climate Change
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Released | 2014 06 02 |
Abstract | A detailed knowledge of spatiotemporal variations in surface albedo is crucial if surface-atmosphere energy exchanges are to be accurately represented in climate models. Satellite observations can
provide this information. This study uses moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data to investigate how summer and winter albedos, and the intra-annual variation in albedo, vary across the Canadian landscape. We show that (i) albedos
generally decrease as one moves from grassland to broadleaved forest to needleleaved and mixed forest; (ii) the effects of snow on albedo vary among cover types; (iii) the largest intra-annual albedo variations occur over grasslands, cropland, and
tundra; (iv) significant differences in albedo occur not only among broadleaved forest, needleleaf forest, grassland, and tundra, but also among their various canopy types (e.g., open versus closed canopies); and (v) land cover types sharing similar
albedos in winter do not necessarily share similar albedos in summer. These trends are caused by differences in canopy structure and are supported to varying degrees by other in situ and remote sensing studies. These results suggest that the use of
overly general land cover classes (e.g., needleleaved forest, grassland, tundra) in climate models will ignore important local-scale spatial variations in surface albedo. |
GEOSCAN ID | 221553 |
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