Use of satellite-based sensing in land surface climatology

Common types of satellite-derived measurements are reviewed with respect to how theyare used to provide information on variables important to land surface climatology. The variablesconsidered include solar radiation, surface albedo, surface temperature, outgoing longwaveradiation, cloud cover, net radiation, soil moisture, latent and sensible heat flux, surface cover andleaf area index. A selection of land surface climate modelling schemes is identified and consideredwith a view to their practicality for use with satellite-derived data. Issues arising from the foregoingconsiderations include the absence from satellite data of some variables required by land surfaceclimate models, the importance of extreme pixel values in model parameterization, the importanceof matching spatial resolution in satellite data and climate model, and the need to have concurrent,independently observed, meteorological data in order to make full use of the satellite data.
Key words: remote sensing, climatology, satellite, climate models.