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Land Surface Temperature (LST) is one of the key parameters in the physics of land-surface processes on regional and global scales, combining the results of all surface-atmosphere interactions and energy fluxes between the surface and the atmosphere. With the advent of the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel 3 (S3) satellite, accurate LST retrieval methodologies are being developed by exploiting the synergy between the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) and the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR). In this paper we explain the implementation in the Basic ENVISAT Toolbox for (A)ATSR and MERIS (BEAM) and the use of one LST algorithm developed in the framework of the Synergistic Use of The Sentinel Missions For Estimating And Monitoring Land Surface Temperature (SEN4LST) project. The LST algorithm is based on the split-window technique with an explicit dependence on the surface emissivity. Performance of the methodology is assessed by using MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer/Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (MERIS/AATSR) pairs, instruments with similar characteristics than OLCI/ SLSTR, respectively. The LST retrievals were properly validated against in situ data measured along one year (2011) in three test sites, and inter-compared to the standard AATSR level-2 product with satisfactory results. The algorithm is implemented in BEAM using as a basis the MERIS/AATSR Synergy Toolbox. Specific details about the processor validation can be found in the validation report of the SEN4LST project., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables

Satellite-derived remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs) can be used for mapping biogeochemically relevant variables, such as the chlorophyll concentration and the Inherent Optical Properties (IOPs) of the water, at global scale for use in climate-change studies. Prior to generating such products, suitable algorithms have to be selected that are appropriate for the purpose. Algorithm selection needs to account for both qualitative and quantitative requirements. In this paper we develop an objective methodology designed to rank the quantitative performance of a suite of bio-optical models. The objective classification is applied using the NASA bio-Optical Marine Algorithm Dataset (NOMAD). Using in situ Rrs as input to the models, the performance of eleven semianalytical models, as well as five empirical chlorophyll algorithms and an empirical diffuse attenuation coefficient algorithm, is ranked for spectrally-resolved IOPs, chlorophyll concentration and the diffuse attenuation coefficient at 489 nm. The sensitivity of the objective classification and the uncertainty in the ranking are tested using a Monte-Carlo approach (bootstrapping). Results indicate that the performance of the semi-analytical models varies depending on the product and wavelength of interest. For chlorophyll retrieval, empirical algorithms perform better than semi-analytical models, in general. The performance of these empirical models reflects either their immunity to scale errors or instrument noise in Rrs data, or simply that the data used for model parameterisation were not independent of NOMAD. Nonetheless, uncertainty in the classification suggests that the performance of some semi-analytical algorithms at retrieving chlorophyll is comparable with the empirical algorithms. For phytoplankton absorption at 443 nm, some semi-analytical models also perform with similar accuracy to an empirical model. We discuss the potential biases, limitations and uncertainty in the approach, as well as additional qualitative considerations for algorithm selection for climate-change studies. Our classification has the potential to be routinely implemented, such that the performance of emerging algorithms can be compared with existing algorithms as they become available. In the long-term, such an approach will further aid algorithm development for ocean-colour studies.