Vol 30, No 1 (2017)

In this work, we discuss possibilities for obtaining more information from atmospheric sounding with IR-spectroscopy methods by increasing the instrumental spectral resolution and using polarization measurements of the solar and thermal radiation. The disadvantages of the modern methods for calculating the molecular absorption spectra in both rigorous (line-by-line) and fast (based on k-distributions) models of atmospheric radiative transfer are shown. Approaches are suggested to eliminate these disadvantages.

A method is considered for rendering coastal water depths according to multi- and hyperspectral remote sensing imagery in the visible and near-infrared spectral regions. The depth is recovered for each pixel on the basis of solution of the inverse problem, which consists in artificial neural network learning with the use of a semianalytical model of radiation transfer in water, taking into account the effects of light scattering and absorption in the underwater light field, at least in three informative spectral channels for each bottom type. A possibility of adjusting the learning process is provided by the use of regression algorithms for determining organic and mineral impurities in water from their in-situ measurements. We enriched the library of the spectral characteristics of different bottom types and found informative identifiers for them. The results are tested on aircraft and hyperspectral space imagery data.

The paper presents the results of complex observations of the atmospheric boundary layer dynamics performed at the Fonovaya Observatory of the Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, in September 2013, with the use of remote sensing facilities, i.e., aerosol and Doppler lidars. The structure of aerosol and wind fields in the period of occurrence of internal buoyancy waves and low-level jet streams in the boundary layer is considered.

For purposes of atmospheric correction of satellite images, the problem of estimating the distance from the cloud gap center at which the effect from cloudiness on the satellite image can be neglected is posed. The Monte Carlo method with the backward simulation scheme is used. The value for the radius of the gap in continuous cloudiness at which the influence of clouds changes the received radiation intensity by 10% has been obtained. Dependences of the received intensity on the gap radius have been obtained and explained.

The inversion of the optical contrasts between the ripple and slick areas on the sea surface produced by natural processes is analyzed. It is shown that, depending on the solar zenith angle and the angle at which a spacecraft-mounted optical scanner observes the slick–ripple interface, the intensity of light reflected from the slick area may be either greater or less than the intensity of light reflected from the ripple area. The sea surface slopes are assessed, at which the inversion of the slick–ripple optical contrast occurs.

The temperature, surface pressure, and cloud cover for Siberia (50°–70° N; 60°–110° E) in the winter period (December–February) are estimated over 1976–2011 based on data from 163 meteorological stations. Using surface synoptic maps, time series of winter cyclone characteristics, such as the total number and central pressure, are derived for the same period. Two time intervals are found in variations of climatic characteristics and cyclone activity characteristics: 1976–1990 and 1991–2011. In the first period, the temperature and cloud cover increased and the surface pressure fell, which reduced the number of cyclones and intensified (deepened) them. In the second period, opposite trends took place. The correlation analysis between the climate variables and cyclonic activity characteristics allowed us to consistently describe the impact of cyclones on the surface pressure and cloudiness.

It has been shown that the regular part of the solution (RPS) which remains after separating the anisotropic part of the solution (APS) in the small-angle modification of the spherical harmonics method (SHM) is a smooth quasi-isotropic function with individual peaks in the angular distribution. The smooth part of the RPS without peaks can be determined in the two-streaming or diffuse approximation. The first iteration of the angular distribution of the radiance significantly refines the solution and allows one to restore the abovementioned angular peaks. The quasi-diffusion approximation—separation of the APS on the basis of the SHM, the determination of the RPS in the diffusion approximation, and the refinement of the solution on the basis of the first iteration—does not depend on the symmetry of the problem and, therefore, can be generalized to the case of an arbitrary geometry of the medium.

The rapid increase in the volume of Earth satellite observation data over recent years makes more necessary the problem of developing new technologies for effective data search, selection, and processing within very large constantly updated distributed archives. The paper describes the features of such technologies developed at the Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI RAS). These techniques provide the design of various data processing tools for satellite data analysis with the use of distributed computing resources of remote sensing data processing and archiving centers. Advantages and capabilities of the approaches suggested are described, as well as examples of implemented tools for distributed processing of data from various satellite remote sensing systems. The examples given show the capabilities of using the tools for the analysis of various atmospheric and ocean surface phenomena.

Spatial-angular characteristics of reflected solar radiation in broken clouds are simulated in the spherical model of the atmosphere using statistical algorithms developed in the Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. The patterns of formation of radiance fields of scattered radiation, caused by the finite cloud extents, mutual cloud shading, and radiation re-reflection by neighboring cloud elements are considered by the example of individual cloud realizations. It is shown that, for small and moderate cloud fractions, the specific features of the radiance field of reflected solar radiation are mainly determined by cloud localization relative to the viewing direction and direction “toward the Sun”.