2.3 Surface Emissivity
Surface emissivity is known to be one important factor in radiance balance and transfer. However, the Earth’s surface is comprised of complicated land-use and land-cover types and the surface emissivity is difficult to measure accurately.
The effect of surface emissivity on satellite measurements can be generalized into three categories (Prata,1993):
+ Emissivity causes a reduction of surface-emitted radiance.
+ Nonblack surfaces reflect radiance.
+ The anisotropy of reflectivity and emissivity may reduce or increase the total radiance from the surface.