A Near-Real-time Full Resolution Globally Merged IR Data Set and Its Applications

Tools have been developed and implemented that enable the merging of full-resolution infrared satellite data from all available geostationary meteorological satellites (GOES-8,GOES-10, Meteosat-5, Meteosat-7, and GMS-5 into global (60N - 60S) maps every 30 minutes. Several unique features of this product exist. First, the data from the individual geostationary satellites have been merged to form nearly seamless maps. This task was not trivial as it involved a substantial research effort to adjust the IR brightness temperatures for viewing angle effects (see paper by Joyce et al. in this program). Secondly, with the availability of IR data from the Meteosat-5 satellite (currently positioned at a sub-satellite longitude of 63oE), complete global (60N - 60S) maps can be made. Finally, the data have been remapped to a rectangular latitude/longitude grid to assist applications which use these data.

The task of merging the data from the individual satellites into a single, nearly seamless global array of information is made possible by recent work by Joyce et al. who developed a technique to correct for increasingly (erroneous) cold IR temperatures as the viewing angle from satellite nadir increases. In this paper, we briefly describe the merging methodology and describe key aspects of the merged product. Present and potential applications for this data set are also discussed. These include near real-time global disaster monitoring and mitigation, assimilation of these data into numerical weather prediction models, and research.