Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-18-2021
Department
Department of Physics
Abstract
Satellite images often feature sun glints caused by the specular reflection of sunlight from water surfaces or from horizontally oriented ice crystals occurring in clouds. Such glints can prevent accurate retrievals of atmospheric and surface properties using existing algorithms, but the glints can also be used to infer more about the glint-causing objects—for example about the microphysical properties and radiative effects of ice clouds. This paper introduces the recently released operational glint product of the Earth Polychromatic Camera (EPIC) onboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft. Most importantly, the paper describes the algorithm used for generating the key component of the new product: a glint mask indicating the presence of sun glint caused by the specular reflection of sunlight from ice clouds and smooth water surfaces. After describing the glint detection algorithm and glint product, the paper shows some examples of the detected glints and discusses some basic statistics of the glint population in a yearlong dataset of EPIC images. These statistics provide insights into the performance of glint detection and point toward possibilities for using the glint product to gain scientific insights about ice clouds and water surfaces.
Publication Title
Frontiers in Remote Sensing
Recommended Citation
Várnai, T.,
Marshak, A.,
&
Kostinski, A.
(2021).
Operational Detection of Sun Glints in DSCOVR EPIC Images.
Frontiers in Remote Sensing,
2.
http://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2021.777806
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/16272
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Version
Publisher's PDF
Publisher's Statement
© 2021 Várnai, Marshak and Kostinski. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2021.777806