An Introduction to the EUMETSAT Polar system

2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (7) ◽  
pp. 1085-1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Dieter Klaes ◽  
Marc Cohen ◽  
Yves Buhler ◽  
Peter Schlüssel ◽  
Rosemary Munro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Infrared Observation ◽  
Polar System ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding ◽  
Core Components ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Polar System is the European contribution to the European–U.S. operational polar meteorological satellite system (Initial Joint Polar System). It serves the midmorning (a.m.) orbit 0930 Local Solar Time (LST) descending node. The EUMETSAT satellites of this new polar system are the Meteorological Operational Satellite (Metop) satellites, jointly developed with ESA. Three Metop satellites are foreseen for at least 14 years of operation from 2006 onward and will support operational meteorology and climate monitoring. The Metop Programme includes the development of some instruments, such as the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment, Advanced Scatterometer, and the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding, which are advanced instruments of recent successful research missions. Core components of the Metop payload, common with the payload on the U.S. satellites, are the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer and the Advanced Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) Operational Vertical Sounder (ATOVS) package, composed of the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS), Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit A (AMSU-A), and Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS). They provide continuity to the NOAA-K, -L, -M satellite series (in orbit known as NOAA-15, -16 and -17). MHS is a EUMETSAT development and replaces the AMSU-B instrument in the ATOVS suite. The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) instrument, developed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, provides hyperspectral resolution infrared sounding capabilities and represents new technology in operational satellite remote sensing.

scholarly journals Using MetOp-A AVHRR Clear-Sky Measurements to Cloud-Clear MetOp-A IASI Column Radiances

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 1104-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric S. Maddy ◽  
Thomas S. King ◽  
Haibing Sun ◽  
Walter W. Wolf ◽  
Christopher D. Barnet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Spatial Resolution ◽  
Zero Bias ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Ecmwf Model ◽  
Skin Temperatures ◽  
Very High ◽  
Better Than

Abstract High spatial resolution measurements from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the Meteorological Operation (MetOp)-A satellite that are collocated to the footprints from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the satellite are exploited to improve and quality control cloud-cleared radiances obtained from the IASI. For a partial set of mostly ocean MetOp-A orbits collected on 3 October 2010 for latitudes between 70°S and 75°N, these cloud-cleared radiances and clear-sky subpixel AVHRR measurements within the IASI footprint agree to better than 0.25-K root-mean-squared difference for AVHRR window channels with almost zero bias. For the same dataset, surface skin temperatures retrieved using the combined AVHRR, IASI, and Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) cloud-clearing algorithm match well with ECMWF model surface skin temperatures over ocean, yielding total uncertainties ≤1.2 K for scenes with up to 97% cloudiness.

scholarly journals Preliminary validation of refractivity from a new radio occultation sounder GNOS/FY-3C

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 9009-9044 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Liao ◽  
P. Zhang ◽  
G. L. Yang ◽  
Y. M. Bi ◽  
Y. Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Navigation Satellite ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Vertical Range ◽  
New Radio ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

Abstract. As a new member of space-based radio occultation sounder, the GNOS (Global Navigation Satellite System Occultation Sounder) mounted on FY-3C has been carrying out the atmospheric sounding since 23 September 2013. GNOS takes a daily measurement up to 800 times with GPS (Global Position System) and Chinese BDS (BeiDou navigation satellite) signals. The refractivity profiles from GNOS are compared with the co-located ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) analyses in this paper. Bias and standard deviation have being calculated as the function of altitude. The mean bias is about 0.2 % from the near surface to 35 km. The average standard deviation is within 2 % while it is down to about 1 % in the range 5–30 km where best soundings are usually made. To evaluate the performance of GNOS, COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate) and GRAS/METOP-A (GNSS Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding) data are also compared to ECMWF analyses as the reference. The results show that GNOS/FY-3C meets the requirements of the design well. It possesses a sounding capability similar to COSMIC and GRAS in the vertical range of 0–30 km, though it needs improvement in higher altitude. Generally, it provides a new data source for global NWP (numerical weather prediction) community.

scholarly journals Coastal sea level rise at Senetosa (Corsica) during the Jason altimetry missions

Ocean Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1165-1182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvan Gouzenes ◽  
Fabien Léger ◽  
Anny Cazenave ◽  
Florence Birol ◽  
Pascal Bonnefond ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Coastal Sea ◽  
Potential Contributor ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

Abstract. In the context of the ESA Climate Change Initiative project, we are engaged in a regional reprocessing of high-resolution (20 Hz) altimetry data of the classical missions in a number of the world's coastal zones. It is done using the ALES (Adaptive Leading Edge Subwaveform) retracker combined with the X-TRACK system dedicated to improve geophysical corrections at the coast. Using the Jason-1 and Jason-2 satellite data, high-resolution, along-track sea level time series have been generated, and coastal sea level trends have been computed over a 14-year time span (from July 2002 to June 2016). In this paper, we focus on a particular coastal site where the Jason track crosses land, Senetosa, located south of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea, for two reasons: (1) the rate of sea level rise estimated in this project increases significantly in the last 4–5 km to the coast compared to what is observed further offshore, and (2) Senetosa is the calibration site for the TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason altimetry missions, which are equipped for that purpose with in situ instrumentation, in particular tide gauges and a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antenna. A careful examination of all the potential errors that could explain the increased rate of sea level rise close to the coast (e.g., spurious trends in the geophysical corrections, imperfect inter-mission bias estimate, decrease of valid data close to the coast and errors in waveform retracking) has been carried out, but none of these effects appear able to explain the trend increase. We further explored the possibility that it results from real physical processes. Change in wave conditions was investigated, but wave setup was excluded as a potential contributor because the magnitude was too low and too localized in the immediate vicinity of the shoreline. A preliminary model-based investigation about the contribution of coastal currents indicates that it could be a plausible explanation of the observed change in sea level trend close to the coast.

scholarly journals Corrigendum to: Using global navigation satellite system data for real-time moisture analysis and forecasting over the Australian region I. The system

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 394
Author(s):  
John Le Marshall ◽  
Robert Norman ◽  
David Howard ◽  
Susan Rennie ◽  
Michael Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite System ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Navigation Satellite ◽  
Australian Region ◽  
Moisture Analysis ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Resolution Data

The use of high spatial and temporal resolution data assimilation and forecasting around Australia’s capital cities and rural land provided an opportunity to improve moisture analysis and forecasting. To support this endeavour, RMIT University and Geoscience Australia worked with the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) to provide real-time GNSS (global navigation satellite system) zenith total delay (ZTD) data over the Australian region, from which a high-resolution total water vapour field for SE Australia could be determined. The ZTD data could play an important role in high-resolution data assimilation by providing mesoscale moisture data coverage from existing GNSS surface stations over significant areas of the Australian continent. The data were used by the BoM’s high-resolution ACCESS-C3 capital city numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems, the ACCESS-G3 Global system and had been used by the ACCESS-R2-Regional NWP model. A description of the data collection and analysis system is provided. An example of the application of these local GNSS data for a heavy rainfall event over SE Australia/Victoria is shown using the 1.5-km resolution ACCESS-C3 model, which was being prepared for operational use. The results from the test were assessed qualitatively, synoptically and also examined quantitatively using the Fractions Skills Score which showed the reasonableness of the forecasts and demonstrated the potential for improving rainfall forecasts over south-eastern Australia by the inclusion of ZTD data in constructing the moisture field. These data have been accepted for operational use in NWP.

scholarly journals Application of GPS radio occultation to the assessment of temperature profile retrievals from microwave and infrared sounders

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 3751-3762 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Feltz ◽  
R. Knuteson ◽  
S. Ackerman ◽  
H. Revercomb
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Profile ◽  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
Similar Time ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation ◽  
Common Reference ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

Abstract. Comparisons of satellite temperature profile products from GPS radio occultation (RO) and hyperspectral infrared (IR)/microwave (MW) sounders are made using a previously developed matchup technique. The profile matchup technique matches GPS RO and IR/MW sounder profiles temporally, within 1 h, and spatially, taking into account the unique RO profile geometry and theoretical spatial resolution by calculating a ray-path averaged sounder profile. The comparisons use the GPS RO dry temperature product. Sounder minus GPS RO differences are computed and used to calculate bias and rms profile statistics, which are created for global and 30° latitude zones for selected time periods. These statistics are created from various combinations of temperature profile data from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere & Climate (COSMIC) network, Global Navigation Satellite System Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding (GRAS) instrument, and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS)/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)/AMSU, and Crosstrack Infrared Sounder (CrIS)/Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) sounding systems. By overlaying combinations of these matchup statistics for similar time and space domains, comparisons of different sounders' products, sounder product versions, and GPS RO products can be made. The COSMIC GPS RO network has the spatial coverage, time continuity, and stability to provide a common reference for comparison of the sounder profile products. The results of this study demonstrate that GPS RO has potential to act as a common temperature reference and can help facilitate inter-comparison of sounding retrieval methods and also highlight differences among sensor product versions.

scholarly journals Flood Inundation Mapping by Combining GNSS-R Signals with Topographical Information

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 3026 ◽  
Author(s):  
S L Kesav Unnithan ◽  
Basudev Biswal ◽  
Christoph Rüdiger
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite System ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
North India ◽  
Navigation Satellite ◽  
Flood Inundation ◽  
Threshold Values ◽  
Inundation Maps ◽  
Global Navigation ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission collects near-global hourly, pseudo-randomly distributed Global Navigation Satellite System - Reflectometry (GNSS-R) signals in the form of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) point data, which is sensitive to the presence of surface water, due to their operating frequency at L-band. However, because of the pseudo-random nature of these points, it is not possible to obtain continuous flood inundation maps at adequately high resolution. By considering topological indicators, such as height above nearest drainage (HAND) and slope of nearest drainage (SND), which indicate the probability of a certain area being prone to flooding, we hypothesize that combining static topographic information with the dynamic GNSS-R signals can result in large-scale, high-resolution flood inundation maps. Flood mapping was performed and validated with flood extent derived using available Sentinel-1A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data for flooding in Kerala during August 2018, and North India during August 2017. The results obtained after thresholding indicate that the model exhibits a flooding accuracy ranging from 60% to 80% for lower threshold values. We observed significant overestimation error in mapping inundation across the flooding period, resulting in an optimal critical success index of 0.22 for threshold values between 17–19.

Prospects of the EPS GRAS Mission For Operational Atmospheric Applications

2008 ◽  
Vol 89 (12) ◽  
pp. 1863-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juha-Pekka Luntama ◽  
Gottfried Kirchengast ◽  
Michael Borsche ◽  
Ulrich Foelsche ◽  
Andrea Steiner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Navigation Satellite System ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Navigation Satellite ◽  
Navigation Data ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Globally Distributed

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding (GRAS) is a radio occupation instrument especially designed and built for operational meteorological missions. GRAS has been developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) in the framework of the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS). The GRAS instrument is already flying on board the first MetOp satellite (.MetOp-A) that was launched in October 2006. It will also be on board two other MetOp satellites (MetOp-B and MetOp-C) that will successively cover the total EPS mission lifetime of over 14 yr. GRAS provides daily about 600 globally distributed occultation measurements and the GRAS data products are disseminated to the users in near-real time (NRT) so that they can be assimilated into numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems. All GRAS data and products are permanently archived and made available to the users for climate applications and scientific research through the EUMETSAT Unified Meteorological Archive and Retrieval Facility (U-MARF) and the GRAS Meteorology Satellite Application Facility (SAF) Archive and Retrieval Facility (GARF). The GRAS navigation data can be used in space weather applications.

Characterizing Channel Center Frequencies in AMSU-A and MSU Microwave Sounding Instruments

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 1713-1732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qifeng Lu ◽  
William Bell
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Transfer ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Pass Band ◽  
Frequency Locking ◽  
Infrared Observation ◽  
Band Center ◽  
Dominant Component ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Observation Bias

Abstract Passive microwave observations from the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) and the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A) have been exploited widely for numerical weather prediction (NWP), atmospheric reanalyses, and climate monitoring studies. The treatment of biases in these observations, with respect to models as well as between satellites, has been the focus of much effort in recent years. This study presents evidence that shifts, drifts, and uncertainties in pass band center frequencies are a significant contribution to these biases. Center frequencies for AMSU-A channels 6–14 and MSU channel 3 have been analyzed using NWP fields and radiative transfer models, for a series of operational satellites covering the period 1979–2012. AMSU-A channels 6 (54.40 GHz), 7 (54.94 GHz), and 8 (55.50 GHz) on several satellites exhibit significant shifts and drifts relative to nominal pass band center frequencies. No significant shifts were found for AMSU-A channels 9–14, most probably as a consequence of the active frequency locking of these channels. For MSU channel 3 (54.96 GHz) most satellites exhibit large shifts, the largest for the earliest satellites. For example, for the first MSU on the Television and Infrared Observation Satellite-N (TIROS-N), the analyzed shift is 68 MHz over the lifetime of the satellite. Taking these shifts into account in the radiative transfer modeling significantly improves the fit between model and observations, eliminates the strong seasonal cycle in the model–observation misfit, and significantly improves the bias between NWP models and observations. The study suggests that, for several channels studied, the dominant component of the model–observation bias results from these spectral errors, rather than radiometric bias due to calibration errors.

scholarly journals Application of GPS radio occultation to the assessment of temperature profile retrievals from microwave and infrared sounders

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 5075-5094
Author(s):  
M. Feltz ◽  
R. Knuteson ◽  
S. Ackerman ◽  
H. Revercomb
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Profile ◽  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
Similar Time ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation ◽  
Common Reference ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Atmospheric Sounding ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

Abstract. Comparisons of satellite temperature profile products from GPS radio occultation (RO) and hyperspectral infrared (IR)/microwave (MW) sounders are made using a previously developed matchup technique. The profile matchup technique matches GPS RO and IR/MW sounder profiles temporally, within 1 h, and spatially, taking into account the unique RO profile geometry and theoretical spatial resolution by calculating a ray-path averaged sounder profile. The comparisons use the GPS RO dry temperature product. Sounder minus GPS RO differences are computed and used to calculate bias and RMS profile statistics, which are created for global and 30° latitude zones for selected time periods. These statistics are created from various combinations of temperature profile data from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere & Climate (COSMIC) network, Global Navigation Satellite System Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding (GRAS) instrument, and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS)/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)/AMSU, and Crosstrack Infrared Sounder (CrIS)/Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) sounding systems. By overlaying combinations of these matchup statistics for similar time and space domains, comparisons of different sounders' products, sounder product versions, and GPS RO products can be made. The COSMIC GPS RO network has the spatial coverage, time continuity, and stability to provide a common reference for comparison of the sounder profile products. The results of this study demonstrate that GPS RO has potential to act as a common temperature reference and can help facilitate inter-comparison of sounding retrieval methods and also highlight differences among sensor product versions.

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