The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) produces global temperature and moisture sounding products from operational polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites. Within the NESDIS Office of SaTellite Applications and Research (STAR), the NOAA PROducts Validation System (NPROVS) has provided a centralized, integrated real-time monitoring and validation function for inter-comparing derived satellite weather products against collocated radiosonde, dropsonde and numerical weather prediction (NWP) forecast data since April, 2008. The satellite product systems compared include Advanced-TOVS (ATOVS), Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), Microwave integrated Retrieval System (MiRS), GOES, Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) from NOAA and EUMETSAT and Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) Global Positioning System Radio Occultation (GPSRO) derived sounding products from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

The following report presents results comparing subsets of the above processing systems against common samples of collocated radiosonde, dropsonde and various NWP data as routinely compiled by NPROVS. Results are segregated for respective satellite and radiosonde quality control, time mismatch, terrain and air-mass related constraints and include inter-comparisons against (and among) numerical weather prediction forecasts from the NOAA Global Forecast System (GFS) and Climate Forecast System Re-analysis (CFSR). Results demonstrate characteristic tendencies of performance and constraint induced impacts on respective satellite product yield and perceived performance. Comparisons at various level densities, layers and the impact of typical H20 vapor normalization schemes are shown. Results underscore the need for absolute consistency when compiling validation datasets of respective satellite, ground target and NWP observations in order to minimize the varying degrees of inherent differences among these systems.

The above work is supported by the NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) in conjunction with CrIS/ATMS Cal/Val team activities in preparation for NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) products in October 2011. NPROVS is a pivotal component of the JPSS Cal/Val program for Cross-track Infrared/Microwave Sounding Suite (CrIMSS) Environmental Data Records (EDR) weather products validation; preliminary results from CrIMSS will be integrated into the above results as available.

The contents of this report do not necessarily reflect any position of the United States government or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.