Other Names

BT

Definition

The apparent temperature of the surface assuming a surface emissivity of 1.0. Setting the emissivity to one is equivalent to assuming the target is a blackbody, so the brightness temperature is defined as the temperature a blackbody would be in order to produce the radiance perceived by the sensor.
Brightness Temperature is a descriptive measure of radiation in terms of the temperature of a hypothetical blackbody emitting an identical amount of radiation at the same wavelength. The brightness temperature is obtained by applying the inverse of the Planck function to the measured radiation. Depending on the nature of the source of radiation and any subsequent absorption, the brightness temperature may be independent of, or highly dependent on, the wavelength of the radiation.

Applications

(1) Algorithm development	(6) Radiative Forcing
(2) Land surface temperatures	(7) Climate change
(3) Fire detection	(8) Weather Prediction
(4) Data assimilation	(9) Clouds
(5) Global energy budget

GES DISC Datasets

Quick Search for 'Brightness Temperature' with Mirador
Click on the corresponding 'WHOM access' links in the table below to access products containing specific parameter.

Parameter	Units	Platform /Instrument	Data
			Begin Date	End Date	WHOM Access	Doc
Brightness Temperature at ground pixel resolution		Aqua/AMSU-A	2002-08-30	Current	AIRABRAD.005	Y
		Aqua/HSB	2002-08-30	Current	AIRHBRAD.005	Y
		Aqua/AIRS	2002-08-30	Current	AIRIBRAD.005	Y
					AIRI2CCF.005	Y
					AIRX2SUP.005	Y
					AIRH2CCF.005	Y
					AIRH2SUP.005	Y
		TRMM/TMI	1997-12-07	Current	3A11	Y
					1B11	Y