Radiative Transfer and Surface Property Modelling

3rd Workshop on Remote Sensing and Modeling of Surface Properties

18-20 October 2011
Beijing China

After two successful workshops in 2006 (Paris, France) and 2009 (Toulouse, France), we are very pleased to announce the upcoming 3rd edition of Remote Sensing and Modeling of Surface Properties (RSMSP) workshop which will be held in Beijing, China with the support of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), the National Meteorological Center (NMC)/Chinese Meteorological Administration (CMA), and the NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR). Following the recommendation of the International TOVS working group , this workshop focuses on the identification of scientific challenges facing surface modeling and ways to improve the use of remote sensing observations in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). As in previous RSMSP workshops, a special issue is expected to be published in a peer-review journal, highlighting the contributions that will be presented in the workshop.

Subject of the workshop
This workshop seeks to bring together scientists working in the fields of remote sensing or modeling of surface properties and satellite data assimilation. Microwave, infrared, and visible applications will be considered, both in passive and active modes. Topics will include studies of the surface emissivity and temperature of land surfaces, sea ice, open water, snow. A significant part of the workshop will be dedicated to the exploitation of microwave, and infrared observations in NWP with particular emphasis on impact studies with the assimilation of surface sensitive observations. The workshop will also be an opportunity to make an early assessment of recent results obtained with the SMOS mission and to discuss the developments for the missions to be launched in the near future such as FY-3 MWRI missions and discuss the future missions such as NPP/JPSS, GPM, Megha-Tropiques, GCOM-W and SMAP. A non-exhaustive list of the workshop topics is included below. Scientists interested in these fields are invited to send their contributions in the shape of a one-page summary via e-mail to all email addresses listed below. The abstract should include a description of the proposed contribution, the name(s) of the author(s) and affiliation(s), mailing and electronic addresses and should be sent no later than July 20th, 2011.

Programme
Download a pdf of the workshop brochure.

Meeting topics
In what follows, a non-exhaustive list of scientific topics is given:

  • The assimilation of surface sensitive observations: IR/MW, methods for handling the surface emissivity and temperature and for screening clouds, associated impact studies, better use of satellite information to improve the analyses/forecasts (horizontal and vertical correlation, observation/background error specification), assimilation trials making use of cloudy observations over land, specification of land surface parameter requirements for limited area models.
  • Radiative transfer modeling developments: VIS/IR/MW, all surface types, review of current available parameterization for forward modeling of emissivities.
  • Land surface assimilation schemes: State of the operational land surface modeling systems and recent developments, outcomes of SMOS mission, calibration issues, surface retrievals (soil moisture, salinity, …)
  • Emissivity/reflectivity models: Overview and description of available land emissivity databases/atlases (MW and IR), Intercomparison/validation of physical models and retrieved emissivities (MW and IR, including land, ocean, and ice surfaces).
  • Retrievals of surface parameters: Sea surface wind, soil moisture, canopy, water content, sea-ice concentration, snow water equivalent, etc. and the resulting surface emissivity/reflectance spectra.
  • Other relevant topics

This workshop is made possible by the support of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), the National Meteorological Center (NMC)/Chinese Meteorological Administration (CMA), the NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR), and the International TOVS Working Group.

Scientific and Organizing committee:
Boukabara Sid-AhmedNOAAUSASid.Boukabara (at) noaa.gov
Karbou FatimaMétéo-FranceFranceFatima.Karbou (at) meteo.fr
Prigent CatherineCNRSFranceCatherine.Prigent (at) obspm.fr
Ruston BenjaminNRLUSABenjamin.Ruston (at) nrlmry.navy.mil
Weng FuzhongNOAA/NESDISUSAFuzhong.Weng (at) noaa.gov
Local Organizing committee:
Duan YihongNMC/CMAChinaDuanyh (at) cma.gov.cn
Zou XialeiNUISTChinaZou (at) fsu.edu

Programme