Modeling daily net shortwave radiation over rugged surfaces using MODIS atmospheric products

As a main component of Net Surface Radiation (NSR), the Net Surface Shortwave Radiation (NSSR) significantly affects the climatic forming and change. However, it is impossible to observe NSSR directly over large areas especially for rugged surfaces such as Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The primary objective of this study was to estimate daily NSSR over rugged surfaces at 1-km resolution for both clear and cloudy days. All the atmospheric input data were derived from MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, and therefore the errors from multi-sensor architectures were avoided. The performance of the model was evaluated by comparing its results with field measurements at four sites, and the correlation coefficients of NSSR varied between 0.71-0.93. Possible error may arise from the lower temporal resolution of the cloud products and the spatial resolution of DEM.