V. Yurchyshyn: Results of Earthshine Modelling
In modeling the reflectance properties of the earth, we used scene
models developed for the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE)
observations. Twelve scenes are tabulated, varying from ``desert''
(areas for which the annual precipitation is less than 26 cm) to
``mixed land-ocean'' areas which are cells bordered by two land and
two ocean cells.
For the snow/ice cover, we used simulations from the Canadian Centre for Climate
Modelling and Analysis (GCM II). The Gaussian grid ("T42") is
roughly $2.8 longitude X 2.8 latitude. The model gives the monthly mean
snow/ice cover for each grid cell. The simulations of the earth's
albedo were performed using two different cloud cover data sets.
In Figure 1, we show daily and monthly mean global albedos from a
simulation covering 1999-2001. Figure shows peaks in the earth's
reflectivity in the fall and spring, while showing minima in the winter
and summer.