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Modeling the effect of an inhomogeneous surface albedo on incident UV radiation in mountainous terrain: Determination of an effective surface albedo
Author(s) -
Weihs P.,
Lenoble J.,
Blumthaler M.,
Martin T.,
Seckmeyer G.,
Philipona R.,
De la Casiniere A.,
Sergent C.,
Gröbner J.,
Cabot T.,
Masserot D.,
Pichler T.,
Pougatch E.,
Rengarajan G.,
Schmucki D.,
Simic S.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2001gl012986
Subject(s) - albedo (alchemy) , irradiance , snow , environmental science , terrain , remote sensing , atmospheric sciences , radiation , geology , meteorology , optics , physics , geography , art , cartography , performance art , art history
We compare three different methods for determining an average ‘effective‧ UV albedo. These methods are applied to spectral irradiance data from a measurement campaign held in the German Alps during the spring of 1999. The first method is based on the comparison of measurements of absolute levels of UV irradiance with model calculations. The second method takes advantage of changes in the spectral slope of spectral UV irradiance, which is a function of the surface albedo. In the third method, the surrounding area is partitioned into snow‐covered and snow‐free regions, and the effective albedo estimated by applying a higher or lower reflectivity to each facet before integrating over the surroundings. We present the differences and the correlations between the various methods as well as the results for the different locations.