Exploration of satellite-derived data products for atmospheric turbulence studies

The quality, availability and diversity of satellite-derived earth observation data products are continuously improving. Such satellite products can provide an extensive and complementary view on many matters with respect to intensive but localised in-situ or ground measurements. A search has been undertaken on the available types and sources of satellite data products that could be applicable in the study of the spatio-temporal distribution of aero-optical turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer. This has included all satellite data products that are relevant to the surface energy balance such as surface reflectance, temperature and emissivity. It was also important to identify active archive data services that can provide preprocessed and quality-filtered time-series products. Products derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) and other sensors on the NASA Terra and Aqua platforms were of special interest. The use of climatological shortwave and longwave radiative transfer models, combined with satellite-derived data was explored as a method of elucidating the surface heat balance. An in-situ dataset from the Rietvlei vertical turbulence profiling campaign of 2013 was used to validate a number of aspects of the satellite-derived heat balance approach.