Assessment of AERONET-OC Lwn uncertainties

• Published in: Metrologia
• Main Authors: GERGELY Mathias, ZIBORDI Giuseppe
• Language: English
• Published: IOP PUBLISHING LTD 2013
• Subjects: Aerosol Robotic Network
• Online Access: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC82137; http://iopscience.iop.org/0026-1394/51/1/40; https://doi.org/10.1088/0026-1394/51/1/40

This study presents a detailed analysis of the uncertainties affecting the normalized water-leaving radiance (Lwn) from above-water measurements performed within the context of the Ocean Color component of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET-OC). The analysis, conducted in agreement with the “Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement” (GUM), indicates uncertainties of Lwn markedly dependent on the seawater optical properties for five AERONET-OC sites located in different marine regions. Results obtained for the Adriatic Sea site, characterized by a large variety of measurement conditions, confirm previous uncertainties from an independent study indicating median values of combined relative uncertainties of 5% in the blue-green part of the spectrum and of approximately 7% in the red. Additional investigations limited to the Adriatic Sea site show that the former uncertainties can be reduced by ~1% when restricting the determination of AERONET-OC LWN to measurements performed with low sun zenith angles and low aerosol optical thickness. JRC.H.1 - Water Resources