Thursday, 17 January 2002: 2:00 PM
Determination of surface and atmospheric parameters under cloudy conditions from AIRS/AMSU/HSB data
AIRS/AMSU A/HSB will fly on the EOS Aqua platform, currently expected to launch in January 2002. AIRS is a high spectral resolution infra red spectrometer with 2378 channels between 650 cm-1 and 2675 cm-1 having a spectral resolving power of 1200 and a spatial resolution of 13 km at nadir. HSB is a 4 channel microwave sounder similar to AMSU B with the same spatial resolution as AIRS. AIRS team products will be produced one year after launch and will include: temperature-moisture-ozone profiles; sea/land surface skin temperatures; cloud height and amount; OLR and clear sky OLR; and clear column radiances, which represent the AIRS radiances coming from the clear portions of the scene. One sounding will be produced for each AMSU A footprint, which is 45 km at nadir, for most products, but cloud and OLR parameters will be given for each AIRS footprint. A flag is given to indicate those scenes which are thought to be cloud free. The clear column radiances are given for all cases in which a succesful retrieval was performed, whether the scene was cloud free or partially cloudy, along with a measure of how different the clear column radiances are from observed radiances. Successful retrievals are produced for most scenes in up to 80% cloud cover within an AMSU A footprint. Simulation based results will be shown giving errors of temperature-moisture profiles and clear column radiances for cases called clear and as a function of retrieved cloudiness.
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