Generation of a multi-decadal Earth Radiation Budget Thematic Climate Data Record : Balancing accuracy, precision, and availability to meet the needs of the community

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kory Priestley ◽  
Mohan Shankar ◽  
Susan Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Temporal Scales ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Accuracy And Precision ◽  
Data Record ◽  
Earth Radiation Budget ◽  
Climate Data Record ◽  
Earth Radiation

<p>NASA’s Earth Radiation Budget Science Team, ERB-ST, (Previously known as the CERES Science Team) is a multi-disciplinary team led out of NASA’s Langley Research Center which has the responsibility for governance of the nation’s multi-decadal Earth Radiation Budget Climate Data Record, ERB CDR.  The Science Data Processing System which produces the ERB-CDR is highly complex, producing Level one through Level 4 products.  The system ingests data from 15 different instruments on 9 different spacecraft (5 GEO and 4 LEO) as well as other ancillary information, producing 25 different products with consistent TOA, Surface, and atmospheric radiative fluxes, cloud and aerosol properties on multiple spatial and temporal scales.  Spatial scales vary from instantaneous/pixel (25 km), 1-deg grid, zonal, regional and global means while temporal scales vary across instantaneous, hourly, 3 hourly to monthly scales.  Accuracy and precision values vary across the various spatial and temporal scales, with the long-term goal of measuring decadal trends of better than 0.3 W/m^2 per decade.</p><p> </p><p>Instrument calibration and precision, as measured through the post-launch protocols, is one of many considerations that drive the decision to reprocess, others include, but are not limited to validation and instantiation of new algorithms across all levels of products, outside teams reprocessing the products we ingest, the launch of new instrumentation to replace operational weather imagers on Geo satellites, updates to processing hardware, and of course resource availability.  These all need to be managed/considered in order to provide the global community products of sufficient accuracy and precision on a time-scale which allows continued advancement and discovery of key scientific questions such that policy makers may make informed decisions.</p><p> </p><p>This presentation will highlight the processes and protocols the Earth Radiation Budget Science Team utilizes to guide reprocessing decisions, identifying lessons learned and best practices.</p>

scholarly journals Generation of a Seamless Earth Radiation Budget Climate Data Record: A New Methodology for Placing Overlapping Satellite Instruments on the Same Radiometric Scale

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 2787
Author(s):  
Mohan Shankar ◽  
Wenying Su ◽  
Natividad Manalo-Smith ◽  
Norman G. Loeb
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Response ◽  
Radiant Energy ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Data Record ◽  
Earth Radiation Budget ◽  
Climate Data Record ◽  
Earth Radiation

The Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) instruments have enabled the generation of a multi-decadal Earth radiation budget (ERB) climate data record (CDR) at the top of the Earth’s atmosphere, within the atmosphere, and at the Earth’s surface. Six CERES instruments have been launched over the course of twenty years, starting in 1999. To seamlessly continue the data record into the future, there is a need to radiometrically scale observations from newly launched instruments to observations from the existing data record. In this work, we describe a methodology to place the CERES Flight Model (FM) 5 instrument on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) spacecraft on the same radiometric scale as the FM3 instrument on the Aqua spacecraft. We determine the required magnitude of radiometric scaling by using spatially and temporally matched observations from these two instruments and describe the process to radiometrically scale SNPP/FM5 to Aqua/FM3 through the instrument spectral response functions. We also present validation results after application of this radiometric scaling and demonstrate the long-term consistency of the SNPP/FM5 record in comparison with the CERES instruments on Aqua and Terra.

scholarly journals CERES Top-of-Atmosphere Earth Radiation Budget Climate Data Record: Accounting for in-Orbit Changes in Instrument Calibration

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Loeb ◽  
Natividad Manalo-Smith ◽  
Wenying Su ◽  
Mohan Shankar ◽  
Susan Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Instrument Calibration ◽  
Data Record ◽  
Earth Radiation Budget ◽  
Climate Data Record ◽  
Earth Radiation

Libera and Continuity of the Earth Radiation Budget Climate Data Record

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Pilewskie ◽  
Maria Hakuba ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Development ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Radiative Energy ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Data Record ◽  
Earth Radiation Budget ◽  
Climate Data Record ◽  
Earth Radiation

<p>The NASA Libera Mission, named for the daughter of Ceres in Roman mythology, will provide continuity of the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) Earth radiation budget (ERB) observations from space. Libera’s  attributes enable a seamless extension of the ERB climate data record. Libera will acquire integrated radiance over the CERES FM6-heritage broad spectral bands in the shortwave (0.3 to 5 μm), longwave (5 to 50 μm) and total (0.3 to beyond 100 μm) and adds a split-shortwave band (0.7 to 5 μm) to provide deeper insight into shortwave energy deposition. Libera leverages advanced detector technologies using vertically aligned black-carbon nanotubes with closed-loop electrical substitution radiometry to achieve radiometric uncertainty of approximately 0.2%. Libera will also employ a wide field-of-view camera to provide scene context and explore pathways for separating future ERB missions from complex imagers.</p><p>The Libera science objectives associated with continuity and extension of the ERB data record are to identify and quantify processes responsible for ERB variability on various time scales. Beyond data continuity, Libera’s new and enhanced observational capabilities will advance our understanding of spatiotemporal variations of radiative energy flow in the visible and and near-infrared spectral regions. They will also enable the rapid development of angular distribution models to facilitate near-IR and visible radiance-to-irradiance conversion.</p>

scholarly journals CLARA-A2: the second edition of the CM SAF cloud and radiation data record from 34 years of global AVHRR data

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 5809-5828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl-Göran Karlsson ◽  
Kati Anttila ◽  
Jörg Trentmann ◽  
Martin Stengel ◽  
Jan Fokke Meirink ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Albedo ◽  
Surface Radiation ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Ground Segment ◽  
Surface Radiation Budget ◽  
Avhrr Data ◽  
Data Record ◽  
Development And Validation ◽  
Climate Data Record

Abstract. The second edition of the satellite-derived climate data record CLARA (The CM SAF Cloud, Albedo And Surface Radiation dataset from AVHRR data – second edition denoted as CLARA-A2) is described. The data record covers the 34-year period from 1982 until 2015 and consists of cloud, surface albedo and surface radiation budget products derived from the AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) sensor carried by polar-orbiting, operational meteorological satellites. The data record is produced by the EUMETSAT Climate Monitoring Satellite Application Facility (CM SAF) project as part of the operational ground segment. Its upgraded content and methodology improvements since edition 1 are described in detail, as are some major validation results. Some of the main improvements to the data record come from a major effort in cleaning and homogenizing the basic AVHRR level-1 radiance record and a systematic use of CALIPSO-CALIOP cloud information for development and validation purposes. Examples of applications studying decadal changes in Arctic summer surface albedo and cloud conditions are provided.

scholarly journals Quality assessment and improvement of the EUMETSAT Meteosat Surface Albedo Climate Data Record

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 4561-4571 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Lattanzio ◽  
F. Fell ◽  
R. Bennartz ◽  
I. F. Trigo ◽  
J. Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Surface Albedo ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Cloud Detection ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Data Record ◽  
Cloud Mask ◽  
Climate Data Record

Abstract. Surface albedo has been identified as an important parameter for understanding and quantifying the Earth's radiation budget. EUMETSAT generated the Meteosat Surface Albedo (MSA) Climate Data Record (CDR) currently comprising up to 24 years (1982–2006) of continuous surface albedo coverage for large areas of the Earth. This CDR has been created within the Sustained, Coordinated Processing of Environmental Satellite Data for Climate Monitoring (SCOPE-CM) framework. The long-term consistency of the MSA CDR is high and meets the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) stability requirements for desert reference sites. The limitation in quality due to non-removed clouds by the embedded cloud screening procedure is the most relevant weakness in the retrieval process. A twofold strategy is applied to efficiently improve the cloud detection and removal. The first step consists of the application of a robust and reliable cloud mask, taking advantage of the information contained in the measurements of the infrared and visible bands. Due to the limited information available from old radiometers, some clouds can still remain undetected. A second step relies on a post-processing analysis of the albedo seasonal variation together with the usage of a background albedo map in order to detect and screen out such outliers. The usage of a reliable cloud mask has a double effect. It enhances the number of high-quality retrievals for tropical forest areas sensed under low view angles and removes the most frequently unrealistic retrievals on similar surfaces sensed under high view angles. As expected, the usage of a cloud mask has a negligible impact on desert areas where clear conditions dominate. The exploitation of the albedo seasonal variation for cloud removal has good potentialities but it needs to be carefully addressed. Nevertheless it is shown that the inclusion of cloud masking and removal strategy is a key point for the generation of the next MSA CDR release.

scholarly journals Development of the HIRS Outgoing Longwave Radiation Climate Dataset

2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (12) ◽  
pp. 2029-2047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai-Tien Lee ◽  
Arnold Gruber ◽  
Robert G. Ellingson ◽  
Istvan Laszlo
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Outgoing Longwave Radiation ◽  
Longwave Radiation ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Validation Data ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Data Record ◽  
Earth Radiation Budget ◽  
Earth Radiation

Abstract The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) product, which NOAA has been operationally generating since 1979, is a very long data record that has been used in many applications, yet past studies have shown its limitations and several algorithm-related deficiencies. Ellingson et al. have developed the multispectral algorithm that largely improved the accuracy of the narrowband-estimated OLR as well as eliminated the problems in AVHRR. NOAA has been generating High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) OLR operationally since September 1998. In recognition of the need for a continuous and long OLR data record that would be consistent with the earth radiation budget broadband measurements in the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) era, and to provide a climate data record for global change studies, a vigorous reprocessing of the HIRS radiance for OLR derivation is necessary. This paper describes the development of the new HIRS OLR climate dataset. The HIRS level 1b data from the entire Television and Infrared Observation Satellite N-series (TIROS-N) satellites have been assembled. A new radiance calibration procedure was applied to obtain more accurate and consistent HIRS radiance measurements. The regression coefficients of the HIRS OLR algorithm for all satellites were rederived from calculations using an improved radiative transfer model. Intersatellite calibrations were performed to remove possible discontinuity in the HIRS OLR product from different satellites. A set of global monthly diurnal models was constructed consistent with the HIRS OLR retrievals to reduce the temporal sampling errors and to alleviate an orbital-drift-induced artificial trend. These steps significantly improved the accuracy, continuity, and uniformity of the HIRS monthly mean OLR time series. As a result, the HIRS OLR shows a comparable stability as in the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) nonscanner OLR measurements. HIRS OLR has superb agreement with the broadband observations from Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) and Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) in the ENSO-monitoring regions. It shows compatible ENSO-monitoring capability with the AVHRR OLR. Globally, HIRS OLR agrees with CERES with an accuracy to within 2 W m−2 and a precision of about 4 W m−2. The correlation coefficient between HIRS and CERES global monthly mean is 0.997. Regionally, HIRS OLR agrees with CERES to within 3 W m−2 with precisions better than 3 W m−2 in most places. HIRS OLR could be used for constructing climatology for applications that plan to use NPOESS ERBS and previously used AVHRR OLR observations. The HIRS monthly mean OLR data have high accuracy and precision with respect to the broadband observations of ERBE and CERES. It can be used as an independent validation data source. The uniformity and continuity of HIRS OLR time series suggest that it could be used as a reliable transfer reference for the discontinuous broadband measurements from ERBE, CERES, and ERBS.

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