The land data assimilation system in the NOAA Climate Forecast System Reanalysis

To support the mission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in improving climate prediction on the seasonal scale, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) has produced a new generation of global reanalysis, the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR). The 31-year (1979-2009) reanalysis data set is generated as a global, high resolution, coupled atmosphere-ocean-land surface-sea ice system to provide the best estimate of the states of these coupled domains over this period. The NASA Land Information System (LIS) is implemented in CFSR as the global land data assimilation system (GLDAS). This paper introduces the CFSR/LIS and studies the surface energy and water budgets in CFSR. Time series of climatology means and anomalies will be analyzed focusing on the interaction and feedback between clouds, surface radiation, and surface temperature. Preliminary analysis has demonstrated that CFSR can advance the current understanding of the global surface energy and water cycles and their roles in the Earth system to further assist in the consequent research of hydrology, weather, and climate.