Provisional Maturity Assessment of Cross Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) Temperature and Moisture Profile Products

The Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) and the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) instruments aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite provide high quality hyper-spectral Infrared (IR) and Microwave (MW) observations to produce atmospheric vertical temperature, moisture, and pressure profiles (AVTP, AVMP and AVPP), and many other Environmental Data Records (EDRs). The official CrIS and ATMS EDR algorithm (referred as CrIMSS) developed by the AER Inc., was implemented by Raytheon and Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS) to produce EDR products on an operational basis through the Interface Data Processing Segment (IDPS). The algorithm produces AVTP and AVMP products for the ‘MW-only' stage and for the ‘IR+MW' retrieval stage. One of the goals for the CrIMSS cal/val team is to assess the accuracy of CrIMSS AVTP and AVMP products to ensure the EDR products meet the requirements. In an earlier effort the AVTP and AVMP EDRs were assessed using a set of focus-day data sets and matched European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) analysis fields, and a limited set of dedicated radiosonde measurements. This paper aims on evaluating the CrIMSS AVTP and AVMP products for provisional maturity using a variety of in-situ measurements, ECMWF analysis fields, and heritage algorithm retrievals. AVTP and AVMP EDR products generated by the CrIMSS algorithm will be compared with measurements from: (a) Global radiosonde (RAOB) network of measurements (expected sample size ~ 40,000) acquired over 6 months, (b) dedicated RAOB ascents launched over the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Cloud and Radiation Testbed (ARM/CART) sites and other campaigns of opportunity, and (c) National Center for Environmental Prediction-Global Forecast System/ECMWF analysis fields. The Aqua-Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) retrieval products collocated with these measurements will also be acquired for a comparative performance evaluation of two different EDR algorithms, namely the AIRS science team algorithm and the official CrIMSS EDR algorithm. Future directions towards further refinements to the EDR algorithm and long term evaluation plans will also be presented.