Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Electronic Refereed Journal Article (HTML)
· References in the article
· Citations to the Article (56) (Citation History)
· Refereed Citations to the Article
· Also-Read Articles (Reads History)
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
Earthshine observations of the Earth's reflectance
Authors:
Goode, P. R.; Qiu, J.; Yurchyshyn, V.; Hickey, J.; Chu, M.-C.; Kolbe, E.; Brown, C. T.; Koonin, S. E.
Affiliation:
AA(W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125), AB(Big Bear Solar Observatory, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102), AC(Big Bear Solar Observatory, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102), AD(Big Bear Solar Observatory, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102), AE(Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin N.T., Hong Kong), AF(Departement für Physik and Astronomie, Universität Basel, Basel, Switzerland), AG(W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125), AH(W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125)
Publication:
Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 28, Issue 9, p. 1671-1674 (GeoRL Homepage)
Publication Date:
00/2001
Origin:
AGU
AGU Keywords:
Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Cloud physics and chemistry, Solar Physics, Astrophysics, and Astronomy: Solar irradiance
Abstract Copyright:
(c) 2001: American Geophysical Union
DOI:
10.1029/2000GL012580
Bibliographic Code:
2001GeoRL..28.1671G

Abstract

Regular photometric observations of the moon's “ashen light” (earthshine) from the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) since December 1998 have quantified the earth's optical reflectance. We find large (˜5%) daily variations in the reflectance due to large-scale weather changes on the other side of the globe. Separately, we find comparable hourly variations during the course of many nights as the earth’s rotation changes that portion of the earth in view. Our data imply an average terrestrial albedo of 0.297±0.005, which agrees with that from simulations based upon both changing snow and ice cover and satellite-derived cloud cover (0.296±0.002). However, we find seasonal variations roughly twice those of the simulation, with the earth being brightest in the spring. Our results suggest that long-term earthshine observations are a useful monitor of the earth's albedo. Comparison with more limited earthshine observations during 1994-1995 show a marginally higher albedo then.
Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
  New!

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Keywords (in text query field)
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints