Global Change and the Dark of the Moon

Abstract

We have considered the possibility of using earthshine to measure the reflectance properties of the earth (albedo and phase function). Measurements of earthshine carried out by Danjon in 1926--33 show that even then the average albedo could be determined with a precision of +/- 0.01 and that both synoptic and seasonal variations could be observed clearly. We show that, after correction for wavelength dependence and the opposition effect in the lunar reflectance properties, Danjon's visual albedo of 0.40 can be reconciled with the ERBE satellite Bond albedo of 0.30. We recommend a modern earthshine monitoring program (advantages include global integration, continuous coverage, ground basing, and low cost) as a complement to present and planned satellite measurements.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 30, 1992
Accession Number
ADA255181

Entities

People

  • G. Macdonald
  • S. Flatte
  • S. Koonin

Organizations

  • MITRE Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Atmospheric Sciences
  • Climate Change
  • Earth Sciences
  • Executives
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Jet Propulsion
  • Measurement
  • Military Research
  • Monitoring
  • Naval Warfare
  • Observation
  • Radiation
  • Seasonal Variations
  • Security
  • United States Government

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Spectroscopy.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Space