Dear Jonathan,
Thank you for your clear response and focused question on the
comparability of our proposed standard names across different different
data sets. The masks that we propose: cloud, dust, smoke and aerosol are
intended to be used across different data sets. I contend that the masks
are intended to be the same quantity, and the following is for your
consideration.
The detection of cloud, snow, dust, smoke, and the like derive from
remote sensing of light based on algorithm techniques from sensed
multi-band signals, which differ over time and over sensor platforms.
Therefore, we obviate the need for a standard name if we attempt to
create a name for each platform and generation of mask products. I would
argue that it is valid to compare masks derived from unique bands and
algorithms just as it is valid to compare radiance measurements across
platforms and generations. A radiance value may be derived from a
bolometer or a cryogenically cooled chip. The difference in the radiance
value is not the quantity measured, noting that the derivation of the
radiance is very different, but the main difference is the bias and
precision. Analogously, a mask may be derived from a simple threshold or
derived from consideration of many inputs. Presumably, the more accurate
mask is the one derived from the greater number of independent
scientific facts. In the examples of mask and radiance, it is important
for the analyst to be aware of the origin of the quantity.
The snow_binary_mask is a particular CF Metadata example that has
created a trend, utilizing a threshold. Currently only three masks are
defined in the standard, and following the snow mask example will lead
to the necessity of establishing unique mask names for each technique.
For the case of snow, GOES-R considers spectral signatures of rock, ice,
land, fine and course grain snow and more, and performs numerical
spectral fitting to produce a fraction of snow cover result. The snow
mask would be derived from the CF standard name
?surface_snow_area_fraction? in combination with the threshold. The
threshold only serves to finalize the snow mask depending on the setting
of the threshold parameter, but in general there was a great deal of
technology that went into estimating a snow fraction in the first place,
and the variety of ways to estimate the snow fraction must be great. So
I don't see how the threshold is important in creating the standard
name, and it makes sense to carry threshold along in the case of snow
because of the conventional calculation technique, finding a snow
fraction then converting to a binary mask. As discussed already, the
threshold doesn't help the analyst with understanding cloud and the
aerosol masks.
In summary, the snow, cloud, dust, smoke, aerosol and for that matter
land binary masks are all estimated by complex algorithms, and an
analyst would use the mask that meets their resolution, availability or
accuracy needs, but the manner in which the products were derived would
be of interest mostly in certifying the quality of the mask. Given these
considerations, I think the mask names could be useful to the CF
metadata standard name database.
Sincerely,
Charles Paxson, AER.
Jonathan Gregory wrote:
> Dear Charles
>
> Thank you for these proposals. Following Jim's question and your answer, I
> appreciate that you can't define a threshold value in a particular quantity
> for your application of these masks. Perhaps another question to ask is whether
> quantities with these standard names are supposed to be comparable across
> different datasets. That is the main purpose of standard names, in fact. For
> instance, cloud_binary_mask is quite a general-purpose-sounding name. You can
> imagine that, if this were in the table with the definition you give it:
>
>
>> cloud_binary_mask: X_binary_mask has 1 where condition X is met, 0
>> elsewhere. 1 = cloud present, 0 = cloud absent (clear)
>>
>
> it might be used to label quantities with many different definitions of cloud
> cloud presence/absence. The use of a common standard name would indicate these
> quantities are the same, can be compared, and scientific conclusions can be
> drawn from the comparison. But that might misleading. Is this acceptable?
>
> If your intention is to define cloud presence/absence in a specific way, then
> I feel it would be better to have a more specific standard name that identifies
> the algorithm, on the analogy for instance of the existing standard name of
> isccp_cloud_area_fraction. I think it is fine to have application-specific
> standard names like that then they identify quantities which might be generated
> by different providers and which should be labelled as comparable.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Jonathan
>
> ----- Forwarded message from Charles Paxson <cpaxson at aer.com> -----
>
>
>> Date: Wed, 15 May 2013 15:34:02 -0400
>> From: Charles Paxson <cpaxson at aer.com>
>> To: CF-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu
>> Subject: [CF-metadata] GOES-R generated binary mask products under proposal
>> User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.28)
>> Gecko/20120306 Thunderbird/3.1.20
>>
>> Dear CF Metadata Users Group,
>>
>> Through observations and analysis, GOES-R weather products produce
>> binary masks for: aerosols, smoke, dust and clouds. No coordinate
>> value is warranted (i.e. CF Metadata standard
>> surface_snow_binary_mask) for any of these four proposed quantities,
>> since a complex set of tests for each case, such as using brightness
>> temperatures, are used to derive signatures of the four atmospheric
>> constituents. The proposed masks are analogous and defined in a
>> similar way as the CF Metadata standard names: land_binary_mask and
>> sunlit_binary_mask.
>>
>> aerosol_binary_mask: X_binary_mask has 1 where condition X is met, 0
>> elsewhere. 1 = aerosols present, 0 = aerosolsabsent
>> smoke_binary_mask: X_binary_mask has 1 where condition X is met, 0
>> elsewhere. 1 = smoke present, 0 = smoke absent
>> dust_binary_mask: X_binary_mask has 1 where condition X is met, 0
>> elsewhere. 1 = dust present, 0 = dust absent
>> cloud_binary_mask: X_binary_mask has 1 where condition X is met, 0
>> elsewhere. 1 = cloud present, 0 = cloud absent (clear)
>>
>> Please accept these four mask names for inclusion into the CF
>> Metadata standard.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Charles Paxson
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>> _______________________________________________
>> CF-metadata mailing list
>> CF-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu
>> http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata
>>
>
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
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> CF-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu
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>
--
Charles Paxson
System Engineer
Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), Inc.
a Verisk Analytics Company
131 Hartwell Avenue, Lexington, MA 02421-3126
office: 781-761-2209
fax:781-761-2299
www.aer.com
Received on Mon May 20 2013 - 18:03:07 BST
