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Evaluation of the CAMEL Land Surface Emissivity Model over the Taklimakan Desert using Field Observations
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  • Yufen Ma,
  • Wei Han,
  • Zhenglong Li,
  • Ali Mamtimin,
  • Eva E. Borbas,
  • Yongqiang Liu
Yufen Ma
Institute of Desert Meteorology,CMA
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Wei Han
China Meteorological Administration

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Zhenglong Li
Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Ali Mamtimin
Institute of Desert Meteorology,CMA
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Eva E. Borbas
University of Wisconsin - Madison
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Yongqiang Liu
College of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Xinjiang University
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Abstract

A set of LSE observations from field experiments were conducted on 16-18 Oct 2013 along a south/north desert road in the Taklimakan Desert (TD), China. The observed LSEs (EOBS) are thus used in this study as the reference to evaluate the quality of Combined ASTER MODIS Emissivity over Land (CAMEL). Analysis of these data shows four main results. Firstly, the CAMEL appears to capture the spatial variations of LSE from the oasis to the hinterland of TD well, especially in the quartz reststrahlen band 8.1 mm, 8.6 mm and 9.1 mm. From site 1 at the south edge of the TD to site 10 at the north edge, the EOBS and the corresponding CAMEL in the quartz reststrahlen band firstly decrease and reach their minimum around sites 4-6 at the hinterland of the TD. Then the LSE increases gradually and finally gets their maximum at site 10 with clay ground surface, which is higher at the edges of the desert and lower in the center. Second, the CAMEL at 8.3 mm has a Zonal distribution characteristic of northeast-southwest strike. Third, the unrealistic variation of original EOBS can be filtered out with useful signals remaining by the first 6 principal components from PCA upon the laboratory measured hyperspectral emissivity spectra (ELAB). Fourth, the CAMEL correlates well with the measured LSE at the ten observation sites, with the EOBS slightly smaller than CAMEL in general.