ASDC | DSCOVR_EPIC_L2_CLOUD

DSCOVR Level 2

Entry Title: DSCOVR EPIC Level 2 Cloud Version 03

Entry ID: DSCOVR_EPIC_L2_CLOUD_03

Clouds Radiation Budget Tropospheric Composition

Description

DSCOVR_EPIC_L2_CLOUD_03 is the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) Level 2 Cloud version 03 data product. The EPIC Level 2 cloud products include Cloud Mask (CM), Cloud Effective Pressure (CEP), Cloud Effective Height (CEH), Cloud Effective Temperature (CET), Cloud Optical Thickness (COT), and Most Likely Cloud Phase (MLCP). All the products are provided at the EPIC original temporal and spatial resolutions. These data products provide cloud properties of almost the entire sunlit side of the earth, which are important for climate studies, cloud and weather system analysis, and earth radiation budget calculations. Data collection for this product is ongoing.

Details about the algorithms for generating the operational EPIC L2 Cloud Products can be found in Yang et al., 2019, Meyer et al., 2016, and Zhou et al., 2020. A brief description is provided below:

(1) The EPIC CM is based on the threshold method; the surface is classified into three categories: land, deep water, and snow/ice; CM with confidence level is determined independently for each surface type.

(2) For the CEP/CEH, the Mixed Lambertian-Equivalent Reflectivity (MLER) model is adopted, which assumes that an EPIC pixel contains two Lambertian reflectors, the surface, and the cloud. This assumption simplifies the radiative transfer equation, and cloud pressure can be retrieved using the oxygen A- and B-band pairs. Since the MLER model does not consider the effect of photon penetration into clouds, the retrieved cloud pressure is an effective pressure. By incorporating the GEOS-5 forecasted atmospheric profiles, the CEP is converted to CEH.

(3) The EPIC COT product is produced using the operational Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud retrieval infrastructure. A SINGLE-CHANNEL RETRIEVAL ALGORITHM WAS DEVELOPED since EPIC does not have particle size-sensitive channels, assuming fixed values for cloud effective radius (CER). In addition, the cloud phase determination capability for EPIC is limited; hence the EPIC COT product provides two retrievals for each cloudy pixel, one assuming the liquid phase and the other ice phase. A likely cloud phase is also provided based on the CEH.

DOI

10.5067/EPIC/DSCOVR/L2_CLOUD_03

Citation Styles for this Dataset

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DATA CITATION POLICY

How to cite ASDC data

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

ASDC Data and Information for DSCOVR
EPIC Cloud Product Description
Earth Observation Portal Page for DSCOVR Mission Information

MICRO ARTICLE

NASA Studies High Clouds, Saharan Dust from EPIC View

PROCESSING HISTORY

EPIC Data Format Control Book Specification July 1, 2016

PUBLICATIONS

A New Blue Marble By Scott Kelly, NASA Astronaut

Discover Article "The U.S. Deep Space Climate Observatory just sent back its first view of our home world, and it’s a beauty." By Robinson Meyer, July 20, 2015

NASA Captures "EPIC" Earth Image Article from July 20, 2015

NASA Earth Observatory Article: 2016 Tournament Earth Champion: The Dark Side of the Moon - The images were acquired by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the DSCOVR satellite

NASA Earth Observatory Article: An EPIC Eclipse: Natural Hazards - The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) was built to provide a distinct perspective on our planet.

NASA Earth Observatory Article: An EPIC New View of Earth: Image of the Day - From one million miles away, the DSCOVR satellite returned its first view of the entire sunlit side of Earth

NASA Earth Observatory Article: April : 2016 : Earth Matters : Blog - The images were acquired by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the DSCOVR satellite

NASA Earth Observatory Article: Keeping on the Sunny Side of Earth

NASA Earth Observatory Article: Seeing Through the Smoky Pall: Observations from a Grim Indonesian Fire Season - The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera aboard the DSCOVR satellite acquired this view of smoke drifting over the region.

NASA Earth Observatory Article: The Dark Side and the Bright Side: Image of the Day - A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) has captured a unique view of the Moon as it passed between the spacecraft and Earth

NASA Earth Observatory Article: Up, Up, and Away for DSCOVR - The journey has been a long one for the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR)

NASA Leadership Blog, DSCOVR’s First Light on the Future by Buzz Aldrin

The Atlantic Article "Al Gore Dreamed Up a Satellite—and It Just Took Its First Picture of Earth: The U.S. Deep Space Climate Observatory just sent back its first view of our home world, and it’s a beauty." By Robinson Meyer, July 20, 2015

REQUIREMENTS AND DESIGN

DSCOVR Earth Science Instrument Overview

From GCMD Science Keywords:

TROPOSPHERIC/HIGH-LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
CLOUD RADIATIVE TRANSFER
CLOUD DROPLET DISTRIBUTION
TROPOSPHERIC/MID-LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
CLOUDS
CLOUD DYNAMICS
CLOUD PROPERTIES
CLOUD TYPES
TROPOSPHERIC/LOW LEVEL CLOUDS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)
CLOUD MICROPHYSICS
CONVECTIVE CLOUDS/SYSTEMS (OBSERVED/ANALYZED)

Data Distribution

File Format(s):

NetCDF-4

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Spatial Information

Spatial Coverage: (S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Spatial Coverage Type: Not provided
Coordinate System: Cartesian
Granule Spatial Representation: Cartesian

Locations

BOUNDARY LAYER LAND SURFACE SEA SURFACE TROPOSPHERE GLOBAL

Temporal Information

Temporal Coverage: 2015-06-13 - Present

Platforms

Solar/Space Observation Satellites

DSCOVR

Deep Space Climate Observatory

EPIC

Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera

Metadata Dates

Created on 2020-12-14

Last updated on 2023-08-16