The satellite application facility for land surface analysis

Environmental researches; Land surface analysis; Land surface properties; Land surface temperature; Remotely sensed data; Remotely-sensed observations; Satellite application facilities; Surface radiation budget; Earth and Planetary Sciences (all)

Abstract :

[en] Information on land surface properties finds applications in a range of areas related to weather forecasting, environmental research, hazard management and climate monitoring. Remotely sensed observations yield the only means of supplying land surface information with adequate time sampling and a wide spatial coverage. The aim of the Satellite Application Facility for Land Surface Analysis (Land-SAF) is to take full advantage of remotely sensed data to support land, land-atmosphere and biosphere applications, with emphasis on the development and implementation of algorithms that allow operational use of data from European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) sensors. This article provides an overview of the Land-SAF, with brief descriptions of algorithms and validation results. The set of parameters currently estimated and disseminated by the Land-SAF consists of three main groups: (i) the surface radiation budget, including albedo, land surface temperature, and downward short- and longwave fluxes; (ii) the surface water budget (snow cover and evapotranspiration); and (iii) vegetation and wild-fire parameters. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

Disciplines :

Earth sciences & physical geography

Author, co-author :

Trigo, Isabel F.; Instituto de Meteorologia, Lisbon, Portugal ; Instituto Dom Luiz, Lisbon, Portugal

Dacamara, Carlos C.; Instituto Dom Luiz, Lisbon, Portugal

Viterbo, Pedro; Instituto de Meteorologia, Lisbon, Portugal ; Instituto Dom Luiz, Lisbon, Portugal

Roujean, Jean-Louis; CNRM/GAME, Météo-France/CNRS, Toulouse, France

Olesen, Folke; Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institut fur Meteorologie und Klimaforschung, Karlsruhe, Germany

Barroso, Carla; Instituto de Meteorologia, Lisbon, Portugal

Camacho-De-Coca, Fernando; Departament de Termodinàmica, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Carrer, Dominique; CNRM/GAME, Météo-France/CNRS, Toulouse, France

Freitas, Sandra C.; Instituto de Meteorologia, Lisbon, Portugal

García-Haroj, Javier; Departament de Termodinàmica, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

More authors (7 more)

Language :

English

Title :

The satellite application facility for land surface analysis

Publication date :

2011

Journal title :

International Journal of Remote Sensing

ISSN :

0143-1161

eISSN :

1366-5901

Publisher :

Taylor and Francis Ltd.

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

2725 - 2744

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01431161003743199

Funding text :

The Land-SAF project is funded by EUMETSAT. The authors would like to express their gratitude to various people involved in the project team, whose efforts have been essential for the success of the Land-SAF. In situ data are essential for validation purposes; most data used for the validation of radiation fluxes were obtained from BSRN stations; observations of evapotranspiration in Cabauw were kindly provided by F. Bosveld.

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since 23 February 2026

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