Investigations of Radiative Forcing of Indonesian Biomass Burning using GMS Radiance Measurements
Ming-Dah Chou, Principal Investigator
Yoram Kaufman, Co - Investigator
Abstract:
The objective of this proposal is to assess the effect of tropical biomass
burning in Southeast Asia on the solar and thermal IR radiation budgets at
the top of the atmosphere using the albedos and brightness temperatures
measured by Japan's Geostationary Meteorological Satellite-5 (GMS-5).
During the months of September and October, 1997, the largest forest fires
in history caused by human beings and augmented by the dry climate
associated with a strong El Nino occurred in Indonesia and choked cities in
Southeast Asia. The troposphere was loaded with aerosols of biomass
burning extending from Indonesia to Thailand and from Malaysia to the
Philippines. While the GMS-5 does not have the spectral information and
accuracy as the new EOS MODIS instrument, it is the only sensor that can
provide the diurnal cycle of the radiative forcing of the smoke. The period
of this proposed study will start from September 1997, when the collection
and processing of GMS data at Goddard began, and will extend for three
years so that the radiation budgets of Southeast Asia during the period of
the big fires can be compared with that during normal conditions.
Components of the proposed research will include:
Identification of cloud-free regions;
Assessment of the aerosol effect on albedo;
Retrieval of aerosol optical thickness and mass loading;
Estimation of cloud amount;
Estimation of the direct radiative forcing of aerosols;
Analysis of temporal and spatial distributions of the direct
aerosol radiative forcing.
We also plan to use the EOS MODIS results and the surface radiation
measurements during the GEWEX Asian Monsoon Experiment-Tropical (GAME-T)
and the South China Sea Monsoon Experiment (SCSMEX) field campaigns from
April through August, 1998, to augment this research. We anticipate that
the proposed study will provide us information on the extent of radiative
forcing due to biomass burning we have never experienced before.
Based on the results of this proposed research, methodologies will be
developed for retrieving aerosol properties and radiative forcing from the
geostationary satellite radiance measurements over the past decades, which
is the ultimate objective of this NRA.
