Deep Space Observations of Terrestrial Glitter

Abstract Deep space climate observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft drifts about the Lagrangian point ≈1.4–1.6 × 106 km from Earth, where its Earth polychromatic imaging camera (EPIC) observes the sun‐lit face of the Earth every 1 to 2 hours. At any instance, there is a preferred (specular) spot on the glob...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Alexander Kostinski, Alexander Marshak, Tamás Várnai
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2021-02-01
Series:	Earth and Space Science
Subjects:	deep space DSCVR/EPIC glint glitter mountain lake specular reflection
Online Access:	https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EA001521

id	doaj-5f24a6e6186c407a97a9444d7b38a58d
record_format	Article
spelling	doaj-5f24a6e6186c407a97a9444d7b38a58d2021-02-25T22:00:33ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)Earth and Space Science2333-50842021-02-0182n/an/a10.1029/2020EA001521Deep Space Observations of Terrestrial GlitterAlexander Kostinski0Alexander Marshak1Tamás Várnai2Department of Physics Michigan Technological University Houghton MI USAClimate and Radiation Laboratory NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USAClimate and Radiation Laboratory NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USAAbstract Deep space climate observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft drifts about the Lagrangian point ≈1.4–1.6 × 106 km from Earth, where its Earth polychromatic imaging camera (EPIC) observes the sun‐lit face of the Earth every 1 to 2 hours. At any instance, there is a preferred (specular) spot on the globe, where a glint may be observed by EPIC. While monitoring reflectance at these spots (terrestrial glitter), we observe occasional intense glints originating from neither ocean surface nor cloud ice and we argue that mountain lakes high in the Andes are among the causes. We also examine time‐averaged reflectance at the spots and find it exceeding that of neighbors, with the excess monotonically increasing with separation distance. This specular excess is found in all channels and is more pronounced in the latest and best‐calibrated version of EPIC data, thus opening the possibility of testing geometric calibration by monitoring distant glitter.https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EA001521deep spaceDSCVR/EPICglintglittermountain lakespecular reflection
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Alexander Kostinski Alexander Marshak Tamás Várnai
spellingShingle	Alexander Kostinski Alexander Marshak Tamás Várnai Deep Space Observations of Terrestrial Glitter Earth and Space Science deep space DSCVR/EPIC glint glitter mountain lake specular reflection
author_facet	Alexander Kostinski Alexander Marshak Tamás Várnai
author_sort	Alexander Kostinski
title	Deep Space Observations of Terrestrial Glitter
title_short	Deep Space Observations of Terrestrial Glitter
title_full	Deep Space Observations of Terrestrial Glitter
title_fullStr	Deep Space Observations of Terrestrial Glitter
title_full_unstemmed	Deep Space Observations of Terrestrial Glitter
title_sort	deep space observations of terrestrial glitter
publisher	American Geophysical Union (AGU)
series	Earth and Space Science
issn	2333-5084
publishDate	2021-02-01
description	Abstract Deep space climate observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft drifts about the Lagrangian point ≈1.4–1.6 × 106 km from Earth, where its Earth polychromatic imaging camera (EPIC) observes the sun‐lit face of the Earth every 1 to 2 hours. At any instance, there is a preferred (specular) spot on the globe, where a glint may be observed by EPIC. While monitoring reflectance at these spots (terrestrial glitter), we observe occasional intense glints originating from neither ocean surface nor cloud ice and we argue that mountain lakes high in the Andes are among the causes. We also examine time‐averaged reflectance at the spots and find it exceeding that of neighbors, with the excess monotonically increasing with separation distance. This specular excess is found in all channels and is more pronounced in the latest and best‐calibrated version of EPIC data, thus opening the possibility of testing geometric calibration by monitoring distant glitter.
topic	deep space DSCVR/EPIC glint glitter mountain lake specular reflection
url	https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EA001521
work_keys_str_mv	AT alexanderkostinski deepspaceobservationsofterrestrialglitter AT alexandermarshak deepspaceobservationsofterrestrialglitter AT tamasvarnai deepspaceobservationsofterrestrialglitter
_version_	1724250965343731712

Deep Space Observations of Terrestrial Glitter

Similar Items