High resolution longwave radiation from the geostationary satellite imager IR channels

Broadband outgoing long wave (LW) radiation (OLR) along with incoming LW radiation at surface form an important component of the Earth's radiative energy budget. Such broadband measurements are available from instruments such as the NASA's Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy Systems (CERES) on board the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), EOS Terra and Aqua platforms, and also the latest SUOMI National Polar Orbiting mission. Although CERES is a well-calibrated and validated radiometer instrument, the measurements lack sufficient temporal and spatial resolution needed for certain applications. In this study, we demonstrate how the geostationary satellite Infrared (IR) channels can be calibrated with the broadband CERES instrument to provide a high temporal (half-hourly) and spatial resolution (1 – 4 km) OLR product which is valuable for many applications such as, 1) retrieval of net surface radiation for use in land surface models, 2) analysis of radiative forcing in small-scale fire events, 3) hydro-meteorological studies in estimating precipitation through blending with other precipitation products, and 4) unraveling the convective cloud organization, etc. An example of each application will be presented and discussed.