NPOESS Risk Reduction, NAST for CrIMSS

The Cross-track scanning Infrared Sounder (CrIS) and the Advanced Microwave Technology Sounder (ATMS) form the CrIMSS (Cross-track Infrared and Microwave Sounding System) on the next-generation satellite system, NPOESS (National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System). CrIMSS will play the primary role in providing the global atmospheric soundings required for both numerical weather forecasting and other atmospheric variables needed for climate monitoring and prediction. NAST is the NPOESS Airborne Sounder Testbed, designed to be the major risk reduction and calibration/validation airborne system for the satellite system. NAST includes the NAST-I infrared interferometer and the NAST-M microwave sounders as counterparts to the spaceborne - CrIS and ATMS.

CrIMSS will provide the 3-dimensional thermodynamics of the Earth's atmosphere on a global basis with very short revisit and latency times. Besides the principal temperature, moisture and pressure soundings needed for weather forecasting, CrIMSS will also provide useful information on important cloud characteristics such as cloud top height and ice/water phase as well as the optical thickness and effective ice particle radius of thin cirrus clouds. Cirrus cloud property variability can have a dramatic impact on climate change. It is also important to note that CrIS can provide major components of the atmospheric chemistry such as carbon monoxide and ozone tropospheric column content information needed for air quality monitoring and prediction. Radiance emissions by the major greenhouse gases (i.e., H2O, CO2, O3, CH4, and CO) are also to be monitored by the CrIS component of the CrIMSS.

This presentation shows how the NAST-I infrared and the NAST-M microwave sounders are being used for risk reduction for CrIS and ATMS. NAST has been and will be employed for critical Product Validation for heritage sensors/data such as AQUA AIRS/AMSU/HSB, AURA TES, METOP IASI/AMSU and NPP CrIS/ATMS. NAST will also provide real data to develop and test algorithms for producing Environmental Data Records (EDRs) from the CrIMSS. Examples are shown which indicate that the CrIMSS data should provide the specified EDR performance and that the NAST plays a vital role in the mitigation of the risk associated with the definition and testing of the science data processing algorithms to be applied to CrIMSS data.