Development of Cloud Product toward Next Generation Geostationary Meteorological Satellites Himawari-8/9

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) plans to launch Himawari-8 satellite in 2014 and commence its operation in 2015. It is the next generation Japanese geostationary meteorological satellites following to the currently operational satellite MTSAT-2 (Himawari-7). The agency also plans to launch Himawari-9 in 2016. To take full advantage of AHIs that has 16 observing bands, JMA implements Optimal Cloud Analysis (OCA) in collaboration with OCA developer EUMETSAT. OCA involves the use of the optimal estimation method (1D-Var) for the retrieval of cloud parameters (e.g., cloud optical thickness, cloud effective radius, cloud top pressure and surface temperature). AHI's multi-band imageries contain rich information about cloud, and OCA can effectively retrieve cloud parameters from them by the optimal estimation approach. In addition to a greater number of bands, the temporal resolution of observation will also be enhanced on Himawari-8. Cloud parameter retrieval with high-frequency imagery will provide revolutionary information on aspects of mesoscale cloud systems, such as their genesis, evolution and decay. In this presentation, development status and preliminary results of OCA for Himawari8 will be introduced.