Comments on: Arrival http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/2010/02/16/arrival/?src=fromthefield-rss NASA scientists are in the field and write home to tell about it. Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:52:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Ed Kim http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/2010/02/16/arrival/comment-page-1/#comment-925 Ed Kim Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:11:00 +0000 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/?p=891#comment-925 Hi Mark,

Like many things in an experiment like this one, the “right angle” is a trade off. In this case between trying to match the 55 degree incidence angle (which is in the elevation plane) of the AMSR-E satellite radiometer within the constraints of the snow that nature happened to give us at our site (sloped snow surface within the roped-off area at our site). Multiple angles (elevation or azimuth) generally would provide reinforcing information vs. a single angle. However, for a microwave radiometer that does not depend on solar illumination to make measurements, the sun position is not as big of an issue as it is for a visible light sensor. And, logistics trumps everything. We simply did not have the time or resources to take readings at additional angles. Perhaps next time.

Ed Kim

]]> By: Mark http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/2010/02/16/arrival/comment-page-1/#comment-921 Mark Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:19:28 +0000 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/?p=891#comment-921 “Dr. Mike Durand and Ty Atkins (U. Colorado) worked really hard to set up a stand built by Goddard engineers to hold the radiometer at just the right angle…”

What is the “right angle” and why? Is there any merit in viewing from multiple angles, wrt to the Sun position?

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