88th Annual Meeting (20-24 January 2008)

Wednesday, 23 January 2008
On the use of geostationary satellites for remote sensing in the high latitudes
Exhibit Hall B (Ernest N. Morial Convention Center)
Yinghui Liu, CIMSS/Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; and J. Key and X. Wang Sr.
Geostationary satellites provide continuous observations of the earth from space over tropical and mid-latitude regions, making them very useful tools for weather analysis and prediction over much of the globe. However, geostationary satellites are not traditionally used in remote sensing of the high latitudes due to larger sensor scanning angels and lower spatial resolution. The next generation of geostationary satellites will provide higher spatial resolution observations and more robust spectral information, so their use at high latitudes needs to be reconsidered.

This study demonstrates the feasibility and limitations of using geostationary satellites for remote sensing of the high latitudes. The future Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) is used as the primary example. The effects of sensor scan angle and pixel size on the accuracy of estimating sea ice characteristics, snow cover, cloud properties, cloud-derived winds, and atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles are examined quantitatively. Limitations are described and possible corrections for those effects are discussed.

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