MODIS Observed Surface and Atmosphere Characters over Tibetan Plateau

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• MODIS Observed Surface and Atmosphere Characters
  over Tibetan Plateau

Menglin Jin, PhD
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Glaciers as a Harbinger of Global Change

• Glacier National Park
• 110 glaciers have disappeared in the past 150
  years
• 37 remaining glaciers expected to disappear
  within 25 years
• Mt. Kilimanjaro
• All glaciers likely to disappear within 20 years
• 160,000 glaciers worldwide being monitored by
  satellites (especially Landsat 7/ETM and
  Terra/ASTER)

Gangotri Glacier, Himalaya
Bhutan-Himalaya
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NASA Earth Science Spacecraft
Landsat 7 4/15/99
TRMM 11/27/97
Terra 12/18/99
Aqua 5/4/02
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Skin Temperature
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Skin Temperature
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MODIS Tskin gt280K
NCAR GCM Tskinsnow 264-272K
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NCAR Model Simulation
CCSM3/CLM3 Snow Temperature
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Tiebetan Plateau CCSM3/CLM3
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TRMM rainfall
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Aerosol Optical Thickness, July 2004
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Interannual Variations Aerosol Optical
Thickness, from MODIS

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Cirrus, from MODIS
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Cirrus Fraction, by MODIS

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Water vapor

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Cloud optical thickness, from MODIS

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Cloud fraction

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Cloud Top Pressure
Cloud Top Temperature

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Total Column Water Vapor, from MODIS

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Aqua-Terra Cirrus Fraction, January 2005
Diurnal Variation

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Aqua-Terra Cirrus Refelectance, January 2005

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Aqua-Terra total column water vapor, January 2005

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Aqua-Terra total column water vapor, July 2004

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Auqa-Terra Cloud Fraction, January 2005

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• Diurnal, seasonal, and inter-annual variations of
  rainfall, clouds, and water vapor over the
  Tibetan Plateau are examined using the most
  advanced satellite observations. Such
  understanding is critical for further modeling
  this regions.
• Land Information System for easier accessing and
  analyzing MODIS land observations is desired

Summary