Evaluation of anisotropic correction factors for the calculation of Landsat 8 OLI albedo on the ice sheets

Abstract

The calculation of ice and snow albedo on the ice sheets from remote sensing has always been an important objective in climate research, especially at a high spatial resolution. In this study, a model of albedo retrieval based on Landsat 8 OLI satellite data is validated by comparing ground observations from Antarctica and Greenland, with a particular focus on the anisotropic correction of satellite data. Different correction factors for the anisotropy of snow and ice were considered, as well as two different conversion formulas from narrowband to broadband albedo. Our findings point out that existing anisotropic-correction models are unable to adequately account for albedo variations at high solar zenith angles, which is a relevant factor in Greenland and especially in Antarctica. Thus, the present study suggests that the anisotropic correction may be omitted when calculating ice and snow albedo on the ice sheets, as on average worse statistics were found when using the correction.