Seasonal Integrated Albedo data provides modeled percentages of incoming radiation reflected into space for snow-free land conditions. The dataset includes four files representing winter, spring, summer, and autumn seasons, derived from vegetation and cultivation intensity maps. It was produced by CEOS_EXTRA and last updated in 1991.
Use Cases
- Model seasonal radiative forcing using albedo values for winter, spring, summer, and autumn.
- Analyze the relationship between vegetation intensity maps and derived albedo percentages.
- Compare hemispheric albedo patterns using the seasonal files representing January, April, July, and October.
- Study snow-free land surface reflectance integrated across the electromagnetic spectrum.
Strengths
- Four distinct seasonal data files provide temporal granularity.
- Data is integrated across the electromagnetic spectrum, not limited to specific wavelengths.
Limitations
- Data is modeled from maps, not directly measured, introducing potential estimation errors.
- Temporal coverage is limited to a single snapshot per season, with no intra-seasonal variation.
- The dataset is stale, with a last update date of 1991.
Provenance
- Source
- CEOS_EXTRA via NASA EarthData.
- Collection Method
- Modeled from vegetation and cultivation intensity maps.
- Time Range
- Seasonal snapshots (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn).
- Freshness
- 1991-12-31
- Geography
- Global, with separate hemispheric seasonal mappings.