scholarly journals On the Importance of Vaisala RS92 Radiosonde Humidity Corrections for a Better Agreement between Measured and Modeled Satellite Radiances

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajil Kottayil ◽  
Stefan A. Buehler ◽  
Viju O. John ◽  
Larry M. Miloshevich ◽  
M. Milz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bias Reduction ◽  
Satellite Measurements ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Empirical Correction ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Upper Tropospheric Humidity ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement ◽  
Atmospheric Radiative Transfer ◽  
Sky Conditions

Abstract A study has been carried out to assess the importance of radiosonde corrections in improving the agreement between satellite and radiosonde measurements of upper-tropospheric humidity. Infrared [High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS)-12] and microwave [Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU)-18] measurements from the NOAA-17 satellite were used for this purpose. The agreement was assessed by comparing the satellite measurements against simulated measurements using collocated radiosonde profiles of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program undertaken at tropical and midlatitude sites. The Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator (ARTS) was used to simulate the satellite radiances. The comparisons have been done under clear-sky conditions, separately for daytime and nighttime soundings. Only Vaisala RS92 radiosonde sensors were used and an empirical correction (EC) was applied to the radiosonde measurements. The EC includes correction for mean calibration bias and for solar radiation error, and it removes radiosonde bias relative to three instruments of known accuracy. For the nighttime dataset, the EC significantly reduces the bias from 0.63 to −0.10 K in AMSU-18 and from 1.26 to 0.35 K in HIRS-12. The EC has an even greater impact on the daytime dataset with a bias reduction from 2.38 to 0.28 K in AMSU-18 and from 2.51 to 0.59 K in HIRS-12. The present study promises a more accurate approach in future radiosonde-based studies in the upper troposphere.

scholarly journals Construction of the RSS V3.2 Lower-Tropospheric Temperature Dataset from the MSU and AMSU Microwave Sounders

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1493-1509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl A. Mears ◽  
Frank J. Wentz
Keyword(s):  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Weighting Function ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Satellite Measurements ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Microwave Sounding

Abstract Measurements made by microwave sounding instruments provide a multidecadal record of atmospheric temperature in several thick atmospheric layers. Satellite measurements began in late 1978 with the launch of the first Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) and have continued to the present via the use of measurements from the follow-on series of instruments, the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU). The weighting function for MSU channel 2 is centered in the middle troposphere but contains significant weight in the lower stratosphere. To obtain an estimate of tropospheric temperature change that is free from stratospheric effects, a weighted average of MSU channel 2 measurements made at different local zenith angles is used to extrapolate the measurements toward the surface, which results in a measurement of changes in the lower troposphere. In this paper, a description is provided of methods that were used to extend the MSU method to the newer AMSU channel 5 measurements and to intercalibrate the results from the different types of satellites. Then, satellite measurements are compared to results from homogenized radiosonde datasets. The results are found to be in excellent agreement with the radiosonde results in the northern extratropics, where the majority of the radiosonde stations are located.

scholarly journals Verification of a Clear-Sky Mesoscale Simulation Using Satellite-Derived Surface Temperatures

2008 ◽  
Vol 136 (12) ◽  
pp. 5148-5161 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Jiménez ◽  
A. Mira ◽  
J. Cuxart ◽  
A. Luque ◽  
S. Alonso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Local Cooling ◽  
Satellite Measurements ◽  
Mesoscale Simulation ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Surface Temperatures ◽  
Satellite Sensors ◽  
Sky Conditions ◽  
Mesoscale Simulations

Abstract A mesoscale simulation for Majorca Island is made using the Méso-NH model for a spring night, under a slack synoptic pressure gradient with weak general winds and clear skies. The circulations over and around the island are driven mostly by the locally generated flows, due to the topography and the land–sea thermal contrast. The verification of mesoscale simulations in clear-sky conditions is difficult, especially if the network of stations is not very dense. The main objective of this work is to try to verify the mesoscale simulation using measurements from automatic weather stations and satellite measurements. The model outputs are compared with the available instrumental data and the representativeness of the stations is discussed. Furthermore, complete two-dimensional comparisons are made between the radiative surface temperatures produced by the model and those processed from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite sensors. The high temporal resolution of the MSG images also allows comparison of the temporal evolutions of the surface temperature between satellite pixels and model grid cells. The procedure permits assessment of the closeness of the simulation to in situ and remote sensing observations. The results of the comparison show that the model is able to reproduce most of the observed patterns, such as intense local cooling or persistent outflows at the largest basins.

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 Biases in Stratospheric and Tropospheric Temperature Trends Derived from Historical Radiosonde Data

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 2094-2104 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Randel ◽  
Fei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Satellite Measurements ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Step Functions ◽  
Temperature Trends ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract Temperature trends derived from historical radiosonde data often show substantial differences compared to satellite measurements. These differences are especially large for stratospheric levels, and for data in the Tropics, where results are based on relatively few stations. Detailed comparisons of one radiosonde dataset with collocated satellite measurements from the Microwave Sounding Unit reveal time series differences that occur as step functions or jumps at many stations. These jumps occur at different times for different stations, suggesting that the differences are primarily related to problems in the radiosonde data, rather than in the satellite record. As a result of these jumps, the radiosondes exhibit systematic cooling biases relative to the satellites. A large number of the radiosonde stations in the Tropics are influenced by these biases, suggesting that cooling in the tropical lower stratosphere is substantially overestimated in these radiosonde data. Comparison of trends from stations with larger and smaller biases suggests the cooling bias extends into the tropical upper troposphere. Significant biases are observed in both daytime and nighttime radiosonde measurements.

scholarly journals Retrieval of upper tropospheric water vapor and upper tropospheric humidity from AMSU radiances

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 2019-2028 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Houshangpour ◽  
V. O. John ◽  
S. A. Buehler
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Synthetic Data ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Upper Tropospheric Humidity ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Average Relative Humidity

Abstract. A regression method was developed to retrieve upper tropospheric water vapor (UTWV in kg/m2) and upper tropospheric humidity (UTH in % RH) from radiances measured by the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU). In contrast to other UTH retrieval methods, UTH is defined as the average relative humidity between 500 and 200hPa, not as a Jacobian weighted average, which has the advantage that the UTH altitude does not depend on the atmospheric conditions. The method uses AMSU channels 6-10, 18, and 19, and should achieve an accuracy of 0.48 kg/m2 for UTWV and 6.3% RH for UTH, according to a test against an independent synthetic data set. This performance was confirmed for northern mid-latitudes by a comparison against radiosonde data from station Lindenberg in Germany, which yielded errors of 0.23 kg/m2 for UTWV and 6.1% RH for UTH.

scholarly journals ARTS, the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator – version 2.2, the planetary toolbox edition

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1537-1556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan A. Buehler ◽  
Jana Mendrok ◽  
Patrick Eriksson ◽  
Agnès Perrin ◽  
Richard Larsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Transfer ◽  
Polarization State ◽  
Zeeman Splitting ◽  
Spectral Lines ◽  
Radio Link ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Atmospheric Radiative Transfer ◽  
Gaseous Absorption ◽  
Public Domain Software

Abstract. This article describes the latest stable release (version 2.2) of the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator (ARTS), a public domain software for radiative transfer simulations in the thermal spectral range (microwave to infrared). The main feature of this release is a planetary toolbox that allows simulations for the planets Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, in addition to Earth. This required considerable model adaptations, most notably in the area of gaseous absorption calculations. Other new features are also described, notably radio link budgets (including the effect of Faraday rotation that changes the polarization state) and the treatment of Zeeman splitting for oxygen spectral lines. The latter is relevant, for example, for the various operational microwave satellite temperature sensors of the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) family.

scholarly journals Impact of Assimilating FY-3D MWTS-2 Upper Air Sounding Data on Forecasting Typhoon Lekima (2019)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1841
Author(s):  
Zeyi Niu ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Peiming Dong ◽  
Fuzhong Weng ◽  
Wei Huang
Keyword(s):  
Wrf Model ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Forecast Performance ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Steering Flow ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Data Assimilation System ◽  
Statistical Interpolation

In this study, the Fengyun-3D (FY-3D) clear-sky microwave temperature sounder-2 (MWTS-2) radiances were directly assimilated in the regional mesoscale Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model using the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) data assimilation system. The assimilation experiments were conducted to compare the track errors of typhoon Lekima from uses of the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A) radiances (EXP_AD) with those from FY-3D MWTS-2 upper-air sounding data at channels 5–7 (EXP_AMD). The clear-sky mean bias-corrected observation-minus-background (O-B) values of FY-3D MWTS-2 channels 5, 6, and 7 are 0.27, 0.10 and 0.57 K, respectively, which are smaller than those without bias corrections. Compared with the control experiment, which was the forecast of the WRF model without use of satellite data, the assimilation of satellite radiances can improve the forecast performance and reduce the mean track error by 8.7% (~18.4 km) and 30% (~58.6 km) beyond 36 h through the EXP_AD and EXP_AMD, respectively. The direction of simulated steering flow changed from southwest in the EXP_AD to southeast in the EXP_AMD, which can be pivotal to forecasting the landfall of typhoon Lekima (2019) three days in advance. Assimilation of MWTS-2 upper-troposphere channels 5–7 has great potential to improve the track forecasts for typhoon Lekima.

scholarly journals Retrieval of upper tropospheric water Retrieval of upper tropospheric water Retrieval of upper tropospheric water

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1551-1584
Author(s):  
A. Houshangpour ◽  
V. O. John ◽  
S. A. Buehler
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Data ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Regression Method ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Upper Tropospheric Humidity ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Average Relative Humidity

Abstract. A regression method was developed to retrieve upper tropospheric water vapor (UTWV in kg/m2) and upper tropospheric humidity (UTH in %RH) from radiances measured by the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU). In contrast to other UTH retrieval methods, UTH is defined as the average relative humidity between 500 and 200 hPa, not as a Jacobian weighted average, which has the advantage that the UTH altitude does not depend on the atmospheric conditions. The method uses AMSU channels 6–10, 18, and 19, and should achieve an accuracy of 0.48 kg/m2 for UTWV and 6.3%RH for UTH, according to a test against an independent synthetic data set. This performance was confirmed for northern mid-latitudes by a comparison against radiosonde data from station Lindenberg in Germany, which yielded errors of 0.23 kg/m2 for UTWV and 6.1%RH for UTH.

scholarly journals Expansion of the All-Sky Radiance Assimilation to ATMS at NCEP

2019 ◽  
Vol 147 (7) ◽  
pp. 2603-2620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanqiu Zhu ◽  
George Gayno ◽  
R. James Purser ◽  
Xiujuan Su ◽  
Runhua Yang
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
Observation Error ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Radiance Assimilation ◽  
Microwave Sounding Unit ◽  
Microwave Sounding ◽  
Control Procedures ◽  
Sky Radiance ◽  
Analysis System

Abstract Since the implementation of all-sky radiance assimilation of the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A) in the operational hybrid 4D ensemble–variational Global Forecast System at NCEP in 2016, the all-sky approach has been tested to expand to the radiances of Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) in the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation analysis system (GSI). Following the all-sky framework implemented for the AMSU-A radiances, ATMS radiance assimilation adopts similar procedures in quality control, bias correction, and model of observation error. Efforts have been focused on special considerations that are necessary because of the unique features of the ATMS radiances and water vapor channels, including surface properties based on fields of view size and shape, and taking care of large departures from the first guess (OmF) along coastlines and radiances affected by strong scattering. More importantly, it is shown that this work makes microwave radiance OmFs become more consistent among different sensors, and provides indications of the deficiencies in quality control procedures of the original ATMS and Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) clear-sky radiance assimilation. While the generalized tracer effect is noticed, the overall impact on the forecast skill is neutral. This work is included in the upcoming operational implementation in 2019.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document