Merged Lambertian-Equivalent Reflectivity Data Record - Metop

Abstract:
The GOME-2 surface LER is the Lambertian-equivalent reflectivity (LER), or albedo, of the Earth's surface observed by the GOME-2 instruments. This version of the database additionally contains the directionally dependent surface LER (DLER), which contains the directional dependence of the surface reflection due to the surface BRDF. The GOME-2 surface LER data record contains two surface LER versions: one version based on GOME-2 observations by the Main Science Channels (MSC-LER) and one version based on GOME-2 observations by the Polarisation Measurement Devices (PMD-LER). The MSC-based version will be the most logical choice for most users. The PMD-based version has the advantage over the MSC-based version that the surface LER is based on eight times as many observations, each with an eight times smaller footprint. This makes the retrieved surface LER less susceptible to residual cloud contamination, statistically more stable, and therefore more reliable.