A database of spectral surface reflectivity in the range 335–772 nm derived from 5.5 years of GOME observations

A global database of Lambert‐equivalent reflectivity (LER) of the Earth's surface has been constructed by analyzing observations of the reflectivity at the top of the atmosphere made by the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME). Since its launch on board the ERS‐2 satellite in April 1995, the GOME instrument has been measuring spectra of the Earth between 237 and 794 nm, with a spectral resolution between 0.2 and 0.4 nm and a spatial resolution between 40 × 80 and 40 × 320 km 2 . The LER database covers eleven 1‐nm‐wide wavelength bins centered at 335, 380, 416, 440, 463, 494.5, 555, 610, 670, 758, and 772 nm, which were selected for various retrieval applications. The database has a spatial resolution of 1° × 1°, is made for each month of the year, and pertains to the period June 1995–December 2000. Typical spectra of various surface types are presented. Attention is paid to instrument degradation and residual cloud contamination. We have found satisfactory agreement between our database at 380 nm and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) LER database at 340–380 nm, with negligible average difference and a standard deviation of 0.013. The database presented here can be used to improve retrievals of trace gases, clouds and aerosols from GOME, Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer or Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY), Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), and GOME‐2.