scholarly journals Technical Note: An assessment of the accuracy of the RTTOV fast radiative transfer model using IASI data

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (18) ◽  
pp. 6899-6913 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Matricardi

Abstract. IASI measurements of spectral radiances made between the 1st April 2008 and the 15th April 2008 are compared with simulations performed using the RTTOV fast radiative transfer model utilizing regression coefficients based on different line-by-line models. The comparisons are performed within the framework of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Integrated Forecast System using fields of temperature, water vapour and ozone obtained from short-range forecasts. Simulations are performed to assess the accuracy of the RTTOV computations and investigate relative differences between the line-by-line models and the quality of the spectroscopic databases on which the RTTOV coefficients are based.

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 9491-9535 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Matricardi

Abstract. IASI measurements of spectral radiances made between the 1 April 2008 and the 15 April 2008 are compared with simulations performed using the RTTOV fast radiative transfer model utilizing regression coefficients based on different line-by-line models. The comparisons are performed within the framework of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Integrated Forecasting System using fields of temperature, water vapour and ozone obtained from short-range forecasts. Simulations are performed to assess the accuracy of the RTTOV computations and investigate relative differences between the line-by-line models and the quality of the spectroscopic databases on which the RTTOV coefficients are based.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Gómez Martín ◽  
Daniel Toledo ◽  
Margarita Yela ◽  
Cristina Prados-Román ◽  
José Antonio Adame ◽  
...  

<p><span>Ground-based zenith DOAS (Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy) measurements have been used to detect and estimate the altitude of PSCs over Belgrano II Antarctic station during the polar sunrise seasons of 2018 and 2019. The method used in this work studies the evolution of the color index (CI) during twilights. The CI has been defined here as the ratio of the recorded signal at 520 and 420 nm. In the presence of PSCs, the CI shows a maximum at a given solar zenith angle (SZA). The value of such SZA depends on the altitude of the PSC. By using a spherical Monte Carlo radiative transfer model (RTM), the method has been validated and a function relating the SZA of the CI maximum and the PSC altitude has been calculated. Model simulations also show that PSCs can be detected and their altitude can be estimated even in presence of optically thin tropospheric clouds or aerosols. Our results are in good agreement with the stratospheric temperature evolution obtained through the ERA5 data reanalysis from the global meteorological model ECMWF (European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts) and the PSCs observations from CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol-Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations).</span></p><p><span>The methodology used in this work could also be applied to foreseen and/or historical measurements obtained with ground-based spectrometers such e. g. the DOAS instruments dedicated to trace gas observation in Arctic and Antarctic sites. This would also allow to investigate the presence and long-term evolution of PSCs.</span></p><p><span><strong>Keywords: </strong>Polar stratospheric clouds; color index; radiative transfer model; visible spectroscopy.</span></p>


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (22) ◽  
pp. 8771-8783 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Masiello ◽  
C. Serio ◽  
A. Carissimo ◽  
G. Grieco ◽  
M. Matricardi

Abstract. Retrieval products for temperature, water vapour and ozone have been obtained from spectral radiances measured by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer flying onboard the first European Meteorological Operational satellite. These products have been used to check the consistency of the forward model and its accuracy and the expected retrieval performance. The study has been carried out using a research-oriented forward-inverse methodology, called φ-IASI, that the authors have specifically developed for the new sounding interferometer. The performance of the forward-inversion strategy has been assessed by comparing the retrieved profiles to profiles of temperature, water vapour and ozone obtained by co-locating in space and time profiles from radiosonde observations and from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analysis. Spectral residuals have also been computed and analyzed to assess the quality of the forward model. Two versions of the high-resolution transmission molecular absorption database have been used, which mostly differ for ozone absorption line parameters, line and continuum absorption of both CO2 and H2O molecules. Their performance has been assessed by inter-comparing the results, and a consistent improvement in the spectral residual has been found when using the most updated release.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 6687-6711 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Alvarado ◽  
V. H. Payne ◽  
E. J. Mlawer ◽  
G. Uymin ◽  
M. W. Shephard ◽  
...  

Abstract. Modern data assimilation algorithms depend on accurate infrared spectroscopy in order to make use of the information related to temperature, water vapor (H2O), and other trace gases provided by satellite observations. Reducing the uncertainties in our knowledge of spectroscopic line parameters and continuum absorption is thus important to improve the application of satellite data to weather forecasting. Here we present the results of a rigorous validation of spectroscopic updates to an advanced radiative transfer model, the Line-By-Line Radiative Transfer Model (LBLRTM), against a global dataset of 120 near-nadir, over-ocean, nighttime spectra from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). We compare calculations from the latest version of LBLRTM (v12.1) to those from a previous version (v9.4+) to determine the impact of spectroscopic updates to the model on spectral residuals as well as retrieved temperature and H2O profiles. We show that the spectroscopy in the CO2 ν2 and ν3 bands is significantly improved in LBLRTM v12.1 relative to v9.4+, and that these spectroscopic updates lead to mean changes of ~0.5 K in the retrieved vertical temperature profiles between the surface and 10 hPa, with the sign of the change and the variability among cases depending on altitude. We also find that temperature retrievals using each of these two CO2 bands are remarkably consistent in LBLRTM v12.1, potentially allowing these bands to be used to retrieve atmospheric temperature simultaneously. The updated H2O spectroscopy in LBLRTM v12.1 substantially improves the a posteriori residuals in the P-branch of the H2O ν2 band, while the improvements in the R-branch are more modest. The H2O amounts retrieved with LBLRTM v12.1 are on average 14% lower between 100 and 200 hPa, 42% higher near 562 hPa, and 31% higher near the surface compared to the amounts retrieved with v9.4+ due to a combination of the different retrieved temperature profiles and the updated H2O spectroscopy. We also find that the use of a fixed ratio of HDO to H2O in LBLRTM may be responsible for a significant fraction of the remaining bias in the P-branch relative to the R-branch of the H2O ν2 band. There were no changes to O3 spectroscopy between the two model versions, and so both versions give positive a posteriori residuals of ~ 0.3 K in the R-branch of the O3 ν3 band. While the updates to the H2O self-continuum employed by LBLRTM v12.1 have clearly improved the match with observations near the CO2 ν3 band head, we find that these updates have significantly degraded the match with observations in the fundamental band of CO. Finally, significant systematic a posteriori residuals remain in the ν4 band of CH4, but the magnitude of the positive bias in the retrieved mixing ratios is reduced in LBLRTM v12.1, suggesting that the updated spectroscopy could improve retrievals of CH4 from satellite observations.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (13) ◽  
pp. 7449-7456 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Wandji Nyamsi ◽  
A. Arola ◽  
P. Blanc ◽  
A. V. Lindfors ◽  
V. Cesnulyte ◽  
...  

Abstract. The k-distribution method and the correlated-k approximation of Kato et al. (1999) is a computationally efficient approach originally designed for calculations of the broadband solar radiation at ground level by dividing the solar spectrum in 32 specific spectral bands from 240 to 4606 nm. Compared to a spectrally resolved computation, its performance in the UV band appears to be inaccurate, especially in the spectral intervals #3 [283, 307] nm and #4 [307, 328] nm because of inaccuracy in modeling the transmissivity due to ozone absorption. Numerical simulations presented in this paper indicate that a single effective ozone cross section is insufficient to accurately represent the transmissivity over each spectral interval. A novel parameterization of the transmissivity using more quadrature points yields maximum errors of respectively 0.0006 and 0.0143 for intervals #3 and #4. How to practically implement this new parameterization in a radiative transfer model is discussed for the case of libRadtran (library for radiative transfer). The new parameterization considerably improves the accuracy of the retrieval of irradiances in UV bands.


2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 802-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Obligis ◽  
L. Eymard ◽  
N. Tran ◽  
S. Labroue ◽  
P. Femenias

Abstract The Envisat microwave radiometer is designed to correct the satellite altimeter data for the excess path delay resulting from tropospheric humidity. Neural networks have been used to formulate the inversion algorithm to retrieve this quantity from the measured brightness temperatures. The learning database has been built with European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analyses and simulated brightness temperatures by a radiative transfer model. The in-flight calibration has been performed in a consistent way by adjusting measurements on simulated brightness temperatures. Finally, coincident radiosonde measurements are used to validate the Envisat wet-tropospheric correction, and this comparison shows the good performances of the method.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Eugenia Cachorro ◽  
Juan Carlos Antuña-Sánchez ◽  
Ángel Máximo de Frutos

Abstract. The aim of this work is to describe the features and to validate a simple, fast, accurate and physical-based spectral radiative transfer model in the solar wavelength range under clear skies. The model, named SSolar-GOA (the first “S” stands for “Spectral”), was developed to evaluate the instantaneous values of spectral solar irradiances at ground level. The model data output are well suited to work at a spectral resolution of 1–10 nm, are adapted to commercial spectroradiometers or filter radiometers, and are addressed to a wide community of users for many different applications (atmospheric and environmental research studies, remote sensing, solar energy, agronomy/forestry, ecology, etc.). The model requirements are designed based on the simplicity of the analytical expressions for the transmittance functions in order to be easily replicated and applied by users. Although spectral, the model runs quickly and has sufficient accuracy. The model assumes a single mixed molecule-aerosol scattering layer where the original Ambartsumian method of “adding layers" in a one-dimensional medium is applied, obtaining a parameterized expression for the total transmittance of scattering. Absorption by the different atmospheric gases follows “band model” parameterized expressions. Both processes are applied to a single atmospheric homogeneous layer as necessary approaches for developing a simple model under the consideration of non-interaction. Besides, the input parameters must be realistic and easily available since the spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD) is the main driver of the model. The validation of the SSolar-GOA model has been carried out through extensive comparison with simulated irradiance data from the LibRadtran package and with direct/global spectra measured by spectroradiometers. Thousands of spectra under clear skies have been compared for different atmospheric conditions and solar zenithal angles (SZA). From the results of the comparison with LibRadtran, the SSolar-GOA model shows a high performance for the entire solar spectral range for direct, global, and diffuse spectral components with relative differences of +1 %, +3 %, and 8 %, respectively, and our model always gives an underestimation. Compared with the measured irradiance data of the Licor1800 and ASD spectroradiometers, the relative differences of direct and global components are within the overall experimental error (about ±2–12 %) with underestimated or overestimated values. The diffuse component presents the highest degree of difference which can reach ±20–30 %. Obviously, the relative differences depend strongly on the spectral solar region analysed and the SZA. Model approach errors combined with calibration instrument errors may explain the observed differences.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 10471-10485 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kylling ◽  
B. Mayer ◽  
M. Blumthaler

Abstract. Rotational Raman scattering in the Earth's atmosphere explains the filling-in of Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum. A new model including first-order rotational Raman scattering has been developed, based on a reimplementation of the versatile discrete ordinate radiative transfer (DISORT) solver in the C computer language. The solver is fully integrated in the freely available libRadtran radiative transfer package. A detailed description is given of the model including the spectral resolution and a spectral interpolation scheme that considerably speeds up the calculations. The model is used to demonstrate the effect of clouds on top and bottom of the atmosphere filling-in factors and differential optical depths. Cloud effects on vertical profiles of the filling-in factor are also presented. The spectral behaviour of the model is compared against measurements under thunderstorm and aerosol loaded conditions.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (14) ◽  
pp. 5321-5330 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Amato ◽  
A. Antoniadis ◽  
I. De Feis ◽  
G. Masiello ◽  
M. Matricardi ◽  
...  

Abstract. A retrieval algorithm that uses a statistical strategy based on dimension reduction is proposed. The methodology and details of the implementation of the new algorithm are presented and discussed. The algorithm has been applied to high resolution spectra measured by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer instrument to retrieve atmospheric profiles of temperature, water vapour and ozone. The performance of the inversion strategy has been assessed by comparing the retrieved profiles to the ones obtained by co-locating in space and time profiles from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analysis.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 7589-7613 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Amato ◽  
A. Antoniadis ◽  
I. De Feis ◽  
G. Masiello ◽  
M. Matricardi ◽  
...  

Abstract. A retrieval algorithm that uses a statistical strategy based on dimension reduction is proposed. The methodology and details of the implementation of the new algorithm are presented and discussed. The algorithm has been applied to high resolution spectra measured by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer instrument to retrieve atmospheric profiles of temperature, water vapour and ozone. The performance of the inversion strategy has been assessed by comparing the retrieved profiles to the ones obtained by co-locating in space and time profiles from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analysis.


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