Benchmarking of Essential Climate Variables: Gamma Index Theory and Results for Surface Albedo and Aerosol Optical Depth.

This paper proposes a benchmarking method for assessing the level of spatio-temporal variability of Essential Climate Variable (ECV) products against a reference taking into account acceptance criteria in terms of intensity and physical distance tolerances. This is based on a modified version of the gamma index that could be suitable for fitness-for-purpose assessment given that one can choose various criteria depending on applications.