US EPA

1604722 

Journal Article 

Spectral albedo of desert surfaces measured in western and central China 

Aoki, T; Mikami, M; Yamazaki, A; Yabuki, S; Yamada, Y; Ishizuka, M; Zeng, FJ; Gao, WD; Sun, JY; Liu, LC; Zhou, MX 

2005 

Yes 

Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan
ISSN: 0026-1165 

83A 

279-290 

WOS:000230490100017 

Spectral albedo and nadir reflectance of desert surfaces
were measured with spectrometer for spectral region from 0.35 to 2.5 mu m in western and central
China in spring of 2001 and autumn of 2003. Desert surfaces were mainly gobi and/or sand dune
around Qira in southern Taklimakan Desert, Aksu in northern Taklimakan Desert, Ejina in Badain
Jaran Desert, and in Tengger Desert. The measured spectral albedos are low (0.05-0.11) at
ultraviolet wavelengths but it rapidly increases to 0.2-0.3 at the wavelength about lambda = 0.6
mu m at any site. The wavelength at which the albedo reaches to the maximum is around lambda =
1.8-2.2 mu m, where the albedos range from 0.37 to 0.49 among measured sites. Nadir reflectance
also basically shows a similar spectral distribution with that of the albedo, while the values
are lower than albedos at any wavelength. Standard deviations of albedo and reflectance
calculated from measurements for different surfaces at each site indicate that gobi surfaces
around Aksu and Ejina have large variability compared with other surfaces. These datasets would
be useful for the studies of climate simulation, remote sensing, radiative forcing, and so on.