Validation of the NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Sounding System (NUCAPS): NOAA-20 and SNPP Status

This presentation overviews status of the validation of the operational NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) onboard the NOAA-20 and SNPP satellites. NUCAPS is a NOAA operational algorithm designed to retrieve global environmental data records (EDRs) from Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) and Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) sensor data records (SDRs). NUCAPS provides users with atmospheric vertical profile EDR products including temperature (AVTP), moisture (H2O or AVMP), IR ozone (O3) and carbon trace gases (CO, CH4, CO2). NUCAPS EDR product assessments are made with reference to the JPSS Level 1 requirements. For the provisional maturity assessments, the baseline datasets include global ECMWF model, conventional radiosonde observations (RAOBs), limited ozonesonde ensembles (e.g., SHADOZ and WOUDC), dedicated RAOBs (e.g., ARM, GRUAN and AEROSE), and datasets-of-opportunity (e.g., ATom, TCCON, AirCore). Ongoing statistical analyses relative to these baselines have shown that the NOAA-20 NUCAPS temperature, moisture, ozone and carbon monoxide profile EDRs have favorable accuracy and global yield, thus meeting the general qualifications for JPSS provisional maturity.