Wednesday, 17 January 2007
WRF-simulated atmospheric profile datasets used to support GOES-R research activities
217D (Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center)
A novel application of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model within an end-to-end processing system used to demonstrate advanced hyperspectral satellite technologies and instrument concepts is presented. As part of this system, the WRF model is used to generate simulated atmospheric profile datasets with fine horizontal and vertical resolution. The simulated datasets, which are treated as the “truth” atmosphere, are subsequently passed through a sophisticated forward radiative transfer model to generate simulated top of atmosphere (TOA) radiances across a broad spectral region. Atmospheric motion vectors and temperature and water vapor retrievals generated from the TOA radiances are then compared with the original model simulated atmosphere to demonstrate the potential utility of future hyperspectral wind and retrieval algorithms. Case study results demonstrate that the WRF model is able to realistically simulate mesoscale cloud, temperature, and water vapor structures present in the real atmosphere. Since real hyperspectral radiance measurements with high spatial and temporal resolution are not available for large geographical domains, the simulated TOA radiance datasets are the only viable alternative that can be used to demonstrate the new hyperspectral technologies and capabilities. As such, sophisticated mesoscale models are critically important for the demonstration of the future end-to-end processing system.
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