Radiative Transfer and Surface Property Modelling

14-16 March 2016
Maison Jean Kuntzmann, Saint Martin d’Hères, France

The 4th Workshop
After three successful workshops in 2006, 2009, and 2011 we are pleased to announce the upcoming 4th edition of “Remote Sensing and Modelling of Surface Properties (RSMSP)” workshop which will be held in Grenoble, France with the support of CNRM-GAME/Centre d’Etudes de la Neige , Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) , Météo-France , the Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de Grenoble , the Programme national de télédétection spatiale (PNTS) , and the Centre National d’études spatiales (CNES) .

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, modeling of the surface and its radiative 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 offer an opportunity for assessments of recent results obtained from SENTINEL-1, SARAL-ALTIKA, SMOS, GPM, and SMAP. A non-exhaustive list of the workshop topics is included below.

Important Dates

• Deadline for Abstracts: 21 December 2015
• Final Program: 19 February 2016
• RSMSP workshop: 14-16 March 2016

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 Maison Jean Juntzmann in the town of Saint Martin D’Hères, France.

Registration
Registration and submission of abstracts will close on December 21st, 2015.

Student Support
We look forward to awarding sponsorship for the participation of selected Phd students. Please follow the guidelines for abstract submission to be considered for support to attend.

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

• Assimilation of surface sensitive observations: IR/MW, active/passive remote sensing, methods for handling the surface emissivity and spectral temperature; quality control issues and methodology; atmospheric variable sensitivity studies; and observation/background error specification.
• Land surface assimilation schemes: State of the operational land surface modelling systems and recent developments; sensitivity studies of surface model parameters to remotely sensed data; outcomes of SMOS, GPM, SMAP missions; calibration issues, variable transforms or PDF matching techniques
• Radiative transfer developments and emissivity/reflectivity models: VIS/IR/MW, all surface types, review of current available parameterization for forward modelling the surface boundary for remotely sensed data; 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, salinity, soil moisture, canopy parameters, vegetation water content, sea-ice concentration, snow water equivalent, etc. and the resulting surface emissivity/reflectance spectra.
• Other relevant topics

See the announcement in pdf format for more details.

This workshop is sponsored by CNRM-GAME/Centre d’Etudes de la Neige, Météo-France, the Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de Grenoble, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Programme national de télédétection spatiale (PNTS), and the Centre National d’études spatiales (CNES), following a recommendation from the International TOVS Working Group.