A Satellite-Derived Climate-Quality Data Record of the Clear-Sky Surface Temperature of the Greenland Ice Sheet

• Published in: Journal of climate Vol. 25; no. 14; pp. 4785 - 4798
• Main Authors: Hall, Dorothy K., Comiso, Josefino C., DiGirolamo, Nicolo E., Shuman, Christopher A., Key, Jeffrey R., Koenig, Lora S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA American Meteorological Society 15.07.2012
• Subjects: Advanced very high resolution radiometers; Algorithms; Climate models; Climate studies; Climatic data; Cloud cover; Clouds; Colleges & universities; Data collection; Datasets; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Ice; Ice sheets; Satellites; Surface temperature; Temperature; Time series; polar regions; Greenland ice sheet; Arctic region; Greenland; algorithms; Advanced very high resolution radiometer; trend-surface analysis; Spectroradiometry; mass balance; Climatic data; Merging; Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer; Space remote sensing; Time series; Metadata; Satellite observation; Surface temperature; Modeling; ice sheets; Clear sky; Polar region; Data assimilation
• ISSN: 0894-8755; 1520-0442
• DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-11-00365.1

The authors have developed a climate-quality data record of the clear-sky surface temperature of the Greenland Ice Sheet using the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) ice-surface temperature (IST) algorithm. Daily and monthly quality-controlled MODIS ISTs of the Greenland Ice Sheet beginning on 1 March 2000 and continuing through 31 December 2010 are presented at 6.25-km spatial resolution on a polar stereographic grid along with metadata to permit detailed accuracy assessment. The ultimate goal is to develop a climate data record (CDR) that starts in 1981 with the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Polar Pathfinder (APP) dataset and continues with MODIS data from 2000 to the present, and into the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) era (the first VIIRS instrument was launched in October 2011). Differences in the APP and MODIS cloud masks have thus far precluded merging the APP and MODIS IST records, though this will be revisited after the APP dataset has been reprocessed with an improved cloud mask. IST of Greenland may be used to study temperature and melt trends and may also be used in data assimilation modeling and to calculate ice sheet mass balance. The MODIS IST climate-quality dataset provides a highly consistent and well-characterized record suitable for merging with earlier and future IST data records for climate studies. The complete MODIS IST daily and monthly data record is available online.