ALBERT

Description: This paper discusses the aerosol radiative effects involved in the accuracy of shortwave net radiation, R n . s w , with s w ∈ (400–900) nm, retrieved by the Operational Land Imager (OLI), the new generation sensor of the Landsat mission. Net radiation is a key parameter for the energy exchange between the land and atmosphere; thus, R n . s w retrieval from space is under investigation by exploiting the increased spatial resolution of the visible and near-infrared OLI data. We adopted the latest version of the Second Simulation of a Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6SV) atmospheric radiative transfer model implemented in the atmospheric correction algorithm (OLI Atmospherically-Corrected Reflectance Imagery (OLI@CRI)) developed specifically for OLI data. The values of R n . s w were obtained by varying the microphysical properties of the aerosol during the OLI@CRI retrieval of both the OLI surface reflectance, ρ p x l o l i , and the incoming solar irradiance at the surface. The analysis of the aerosol effects on the R n . s w was carried out on a spectrally-homogeneous desert area located in the southwestern Nile Delta. The results reveal that the R n . s w available for energy exchange between the land and atmosphere reduces the accuracy (NRMSE ≃ 14%) when the local aerosol microphysical properties are not considered during the processing of space data. Consequently, these findings suggest that the aerosol type should be considered for variables retrieved by satellite observations concerning the energy exchange in the natural ecosystems, such as Photosynthetically-Active Radiation (PAR). This will also improve the accuracy of land monitoring and of solar energy for power generation when space data are used.