Radiative Transfer and Surface Property Modelling

20-22 June 2006, Paris, France
Observatoire de Paris
61 avenue de l’Observatoire
75014 Paris, France

Workshop Concluded Successfully!

The workshop was a success, with the participants very receptive and active in their participation and discussion. Please follow the link button to the right or click on the following to see materials presented at the workshop (http://geo.obspm.fr/workshop/). In addition to the development of a common emissivity modeling framework, participants in the First International Workshop of Remote Sensing and Modeling of Surface Properties recommended the archival and documentation of all existing land surface emissivity data bases from IR and microwave wavelengths at a centralized website for public access for an efficient intercomparison and evaluation of the modeled, satellite-derived, and in situ emissivity estimates.

Subject of the workshop

Remote sensing and modeling of radiometric and geophysical surface properties, including the impacts of assimilating surface-sensitive measurements.

• Microwave and infrared spectra and all surface types are of interest:
  • ocean
  • land
  • snow
  • ice

This focused meeting will have no parallel sessions and only oral sessions. The workshop format will encourage open discourse with plenty of time for questions, and discussions.

Venue
The meeting will convene in the ‘salle Cassini’ in the ‘bâtiment Perrault’ on the campus of L’Observatoire de Paris.

Registration
There will be a 50 Euro registration fee, payable in cash either the Monday preceding the conference in the salle Cassini from 4 – 6pm, or on Tuesday morning starting at 8:45am. The registration fee will cover lunches at the Observatoire for the 3 days, room costs, and coffee breaks.

Meeting topics
The following non-exhaustive list of scientific topics is suggested:

• Description of methodologies to assimilate surface-sensitive radiances in NWP centers (both in operational and research modes), including cloud screening approaches and surface temperature handling.
• Description of emissivity/reflectivity models (both MW and IR, over land, ocean, snow and ice), used or usable in NWP frameworks.
• Description of available land emissivity databases/atlases (MW and IR). Description of the parameterization of angle and frequency dependences.
• Intercomparison/validation of physical models and directly retrieved emissivities (including land, ocean, and ice surfaces).
• Synergistic use of physical models and retrieval-based emissivities (for the parameterization of the angle/frequency dependence for instance).
• Document data assimilation impact studies performed using surface-sensitive radiances (IR and MW).
• Review the output fields available from operational land surface modeling systems, and target fields necessary for forward modeling of infrared and microwave emissivities. Discuss aggregation of global soil and vegetation databases for use in emissivity modeling.
• Retrieval of land surface temperatures from infrared and/or microwave observations and the impact of the emissivity assumptions on these estimates.

See announcement for more details.

This workshop is sponsored by the l’Observatoire de Paris and by the Satellite Meteorology and Climatology Division (SMCD) of the NOAA/NESDIS Office of Research and Applications.

Activities

June 20 – Reservations have been made on a bateau-mouche for a dinner cruise on the Seine (Le Capitaine Fracasse) June 21 – Paris will host the 25th annual La Fête de la Musique