A Coupled BRDF CO2 Retrieval Method for the GF-5 GMI and Improvements in the Correction of Atmospheric Scattering

Abstract

The Greenhouse Gases Monitoring Instrument (GMI), on board the Chinese Gaofen-5 (GF-5) satellite, provides rich observation data for the global remote sensing of atmospheric CO2. To meet the high-precision satellite retrieval needs of atmospheric CO2, this paper designs a coupled bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) CO2 retrieval (CBCR) method, which describes the surface reflectance characteristics by the BRDF, corrects for atmospheric scattering based on full physics retrieval theory, and ensures the stable retrieval of multiple parameters and atmospheric CO2 by enriching prior constraints. Theoretical analysis shows that the influence of atmospheric scattering induced by the surface bidirectional reflectance characteristics is significantly related to the aerosol optical depth (AOD), solar zenith angle (SZA), and viewing zenith angle (VZA). The validation of GMI CO2 retrievals shows that the CBCR method significantly reduced the influence of the surface bidirectional reflectance characteristics under high AOD and high SZA conditions, decreased the atmospheric CO2 retrieval error from 0.58 ± 5.64 ppm to −1.33 ± 3.13 ppm, and increased the correlation with the temporal variation of actual atmospheric CO2 from 34.7 to 76.8%. Our CBCR method can correct the influence of atmospheric scattering induced by the surface bidirectional reflectance characteristics on atmospheric CO2 retrieval, and this work demonstrates that describing the surface reflectance characteristics by using BRDF is a promising idea in the field of satellite CO2 retrievals.