12 Years Mediterranean Satellite Data Set and Analysis

Abstract

Research conducted in the framework of the EU projects EFEDA, RESRAPS, RESMEDES, and RES YSMED stresses the need to (i) correlate results obtained at specific sites with a regional or large scale overview at the conditions in the Mediterranean Basin and (ii) to expand short term ground based experiments with operational observation of at least a few key quantities to periods of climatological relevance. Remote sensing techniques can definitely contribute to this task. NOAA AVHRR data are still the only source with a satisfying compromise between spatial and time resolution covering a period longer than a decade of years. To serve these purposes in all regions of the basin the “Mediterranean Extended Daily One Km AVHRR Data Set (MEDOKADS)” was developed. It provides as basic quantities reflectances and radiances in different spectral regions from which products like albedo, vegetation index, land and sea surface temperatures, cloud cover and cloud classification are derived. Twelve years of data covering the western part and six years of basin wide data allow to identify regional changes and trends related to variability of the climate. Efforts are ongoing to make the full data set directly accessible and to update it in nearly real-time which is a prerequisite for a monitoring system for the Mediterranean environment.