Look Up Tables (LUTs) 

An improvement was made, beginning in the Collection 6 (C6) cloud optical properties retrieval software, to use cloud reflectance and emissivity look-up tables (LUTs) containing a complete range of cloud optical thickness values.  Previously, in Collection 5 (C5) and earlier versions of the retrieval software, asymptotic theory for optically thick atmospheres was used.  By eliminating the use of asymptotic theory, cloud optical property retrieval code complexity and maintenance needs have been significantly reduced.  An additional improvement was made by generalizing the multiple scattering part of the cloud top bidirectional reflectance LUTs that contains a complete range of optical thickness values. This was done to minimize interpolation errors.  It should be noted that the median error is typically less than 1%.

LUT Overview Document

• Overview of the MODIS Collection 6 Cloud Optical Property (MOD06) Retrieval Look-up Tables View PDF (v1, 6/28/17)

LUT Files for Download

Look up tables and readers were prepared by Nandana Amarasinghe

• LUTs (GZip Tar File, 3.1 GB )
• LUT Readers (GZip Tar File, 51 KB)