Applications of CrIS Full Spectral Resolution Data in NWP Models to Improve the Quality Control of IR Radiance Assimilation

The Advanced Technology of Microwave Sounder (ATMS) and the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) on board Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite provide data for profiling atmospheric temperature and moisture under all weather conditions and supporting continuing advances in data assimilation and NWP modeling. As of today, both ATMS and CrIS radiances are well calibrated and the SDR data have reached a validated level for user applications. This study will present the assimilation of ATMS and CrIS data in the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecast Model (HWRF) Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) system and the impacts from uses of new satellite data on hurricane track and intensity forecasts in the Western Pacific. A new quality control (QC) approach is developed based on CrIS longwave and shortwave CO2 channels to detect the clouds at different altitudes. The double CO2 bands allow for retrieving the optically thin clouds due to their differential absorption and scattering properties. The cloud masks derived from CrIS double CO2 bands are compared with the current GSI baseline QC algorithm in different cloud regimes. Impacts of an improved QC on the prediction of hurricane and typhoon track and intensity are demonstrated with the 2014 Typhoon cases. Since November 2011, NOAA has begun generating the CrIS full resolution data. The improvements in the quality control from using CrIS full spectral resolution data are expected since an increase in CrIS shortwave channel resolution that is consistent with CrIS longwave resolution can lead to more and better matches in the weighting function heights of those paired CO2 bands and thus more detailed vertical structures of detected clouds. The potential impacts from the CrIS full spectral resolution QC on tropical cyclone forecasts are also assessed.