Looking skyward to study ecosystem carbon dynamics

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union
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Abstract

Between May and October 2011 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program, conducted a field campaign at the ARM Southern Great Plains site in north central Oklahoma to evaluate a new instrument for quantitative image-based monitoring of sky conditions and solar radiation. The High Dynamic Range All-Sky Imaging System (HDR-ASIS) was developed by USGS to support studies of cloud- and aerosol-induced variability in the geometric properties of solar radiation (the sky radiance distribution) and its effects on photosynthesis and uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) by terrestrial ecosystems. Under a clean, cloudless atmosphere when the Sun is above the horizon, most of the solar radiation reaching an area of the Earth's surface is concentrated in a beam coming directly from the Sun; a relatively small proportion arrives as diffuse radiation from the rest of the sky. Clouds and atmospheric aerosols cause increased scattering of the beam radiation, which increases the proportion of diffuse radiation at the surface.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Looking skyward to study ecosystem carbon dynamics
Series title Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union
DOI 10.1029/2012EO140002
Volume 93
Issue 14
Year Published 2012
Language English
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Contributing office(s) Western Geographic Science Center
Description 3 p.
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union
First page 141
Last page 143
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