Diffuse attenuation coefficient (DAC) Measurements Made by Earth Observation Satellites

Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (Dac) Measurement Instruments

Measurements > Atmosphere > Radiation budget > Diffuse attenuation coefficient (DAC)

Measurement Definition: Former name: “Water clarity”. Parameter extracted from ocean colour observation. Indicative of water turbidity and vertical processes in the ocean. Requested in both open ocean and coastal zone - Physical unit: [ m-1 ] - Accuracy unit: [m-1 ].

Instrument	Status/ Accuracy	Instrument Description	Measurement Technology	Timeline
MODIS	Operational	Data on biological and physical processes on the surface of the Earth and in the lower atmosphere, and on global dynamics. Surface temperatures of land and ocean, chlorophyll fluorescence, land cover measurements, cloud cover (day and night).	n/a
OCI	Operational	Ocean color slit-grating imaging spectrometer/radiometer for measuring top of atmosphere reflectance which is used to estimate ocean leaving light that contains information on biological components plus aerosol and cloud propertiesl	n/a
OLCI	Operational	Marine and land services.	n/a
AOLCI	Being developed	Visible and near-infrared hyperspectral radiometer supporting a wide range of Marine, Land, Atmosphere and Climate Services. Provides enhanced continutity of ocean colour and land colour measurements from OLCI and enhanced synergy with ASLSTR	n/a
FLORIS	Approved	Mapping vegetation fluorescence to quantify photosynthetic activity.	n/a
VIS-NIR	Approved	Ocean Colour - Open ocean, coastal & in-land waters.	n/a