Model-derived proxy ABI radiance datasets used for GOES-R research and demonstration activities

The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is heavily involved in GOES-R satellite algorithm development, risk reduction, data processing, and measurement capability demonstration activities. In support of this work, an end-to-end processing system that utilizes proxy top of atmosphere radiance datasets derived from numerical model output has been developed. The first step in the end-to-end system is to use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to perform a high-resolution simulation covering a large geographic domain with high spatial and temporal resolution. Model-simulated temperature, moisture, and cloud data are subsequently passed through a forward radiative transfer model to produce proxy ABI radiances.

In this paper, we will describe our recent simulation activities, which includes performing two large-scale, high-resolution model simulations at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center during 2009. The first simulation contained a single 3950 x 3420 grid point domain with 5-km horizontal resolution centered at -137º W while the second simulation contained two nested domains with the inner domain covering a 1000 x 1000 km area with 500-m resolution. These two simulations were configured to represent the potential western viewing area of GOES-R and a representative special mesoscale viewing area, respectively. Proxy radiance datasets generated from these simulations provide an important opportunity to realistically demonstrate ABI measurement capabilities.