A comparison of atmospheric infrared sounder (AIRS) temperature and moisture profiles with dropsonde observations over tropical oceans: the bias correction and impact on numerical simulation of tropical cyclones

In this study, the retrieved atmospheric infrared sounder (AIRS) temperature and relative humidity profiles over tropical oceans were compared with the dropsonde observations collected during NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA 2006) and the THORPEX Pacific Asian Regional Campaign (T-PARC 2008) field experiments. Using dropsonde observations as a reference, the biases and root-mean-square errors were computed. The results indicate that the AIRS retrieved temperature profiles are in good agreement with dropsonde observations. However, the AIRS retrieved moisture profiles show a larger bias compared with the dropsonde over the regions where tropical cyclone occurred. The data quality, effect of the bias correction of the AIRS retrieved data products on data assimilation and their impact on numerical simulations of tropical cyclones were also investigated.