John J. Remedios

Hyperspectral Earth Observation from IASI: Five Years of Accomplishments

The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) forms the main infrared sounding component of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellitess (EUMETSATs) Meteorological Operation (MetOp)-A satellite (Klaes et al. 2007), which was launched in October 2006. This article presents the results of the first 4 yr of the operational IASI mission. The performance of the instrument is shown to be exceptional in terms of calibration and stability. The quality of the data has allowed the rapid use of the observations in operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) and the development of new products for atmospheric chemistry and climate studies, some of which were unexpected before launch. The assimilation of IASI observations in NWP models provides a significant forecast impact; in most cases the impact has been shown to be at least as large as for any previous instrument. In atmospheric chemistry, global distributions of gases, such as ozone and carbon monoxide, can be produ...

Colour indices for the detection and differentiation of cloud types in infra-red limb emission spectra

Abstract Simple radiance ratios have been used for the detection of clouds around the tropopause and in the winter polar stratosphere from the infra-red spectra of two remote sensing instruments, the cryogenic infrared spectrometers and telescopes for the atmosphere (CRISTA) flown on two space shuttle missions in 1994 and 1997 and the Michelson interferometer for passive atmospheric sounding (MIPAS) launched on ENVISAT in March 2002. This very successful approach was first applied to different wavelength regions of the CRISTA measurements and was then used as a pre-flight validation test for a cloud detection algorithm of the operational retrieval processor for MIPAS. Preliminary results are now available from the MIPAS instrument and are presented here. First, cloud top heights have been derived down to 12 km by the detection method and show quite reasonable results. In addition, modelled spectra and measurements show that the extension of the method to lower altitudes – potentially down to 6 km – should be possible. Second, the high spectral resolution of the MIPAS measurements allows in addition the detection of scattering effects in the spectra, which gives the future opportunity to retrieve information about the size of the scattering particles. In particular, an index has been developed which allows large particle clouds to be identified. Finally, investigations of CRISTA spectra have already shown that the differentiation of polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) types is possible based on their characteristic spectral features. Application of the differentiation method to the tropics shows no indication for clouds containing PSC-like nitric-acid-hydrate particles.

A 20 year independent record of sea surface temperature for climate from Along Track Scanning Radiometers

A new record of sea surface temperature (SST) for climate applications is described. This record provides independent corroboration of global variations estimated from SST measurements made in situ. Infra-red imagery from Along-Track Scanning Radiometers (ATSRs) is used to create a 20 year time series of SST at 0.1deg latitude- longitude resolution, in the ATSR Reprocessing for Climate (ARC) project. A very high degree of independence of in situ measurements is achieved via physics-based techniques. Skin SST and SST estimated for 20 cm depth are provided, with grid cell uncertainty estimates. Comparison with in situ datasets establishes that ARC SSTs generally have bias of order 0.1 K or smaller. The precision of the ARC SSTs is 0.14 K during 2003 to 2009, from three-way error analysis. Over the period 1994 to 2010, ARC SSTs are stable, with better than 95% confidence, to within 0.005 K/yr (demonstrated for tropical regions). The dataset appears useful for cleanly quantifying inter-annual variability in SST and major SST anomalies. The ARC SST global anomaly time series is compared to the in situ-based Hadley Centre SST dataset version 3 (HadSST3). Within known uncertainties in bias adjustments applied to in situ measurements, the independent ARC record and HadSST3 present the same variations in global marine temperature since 1996. Since the in situ observing system evolved significantly in its mix of measurement platforms and techniques over this period, ARC SSTs provide an important corroboration that HadSST3 accurately represents recent variability and change in this essential climate variable.

The Global Trend in Sea Surface Temperature from 20 Years of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer Data

The trend in sea surface temperature has been determined from 20 yr of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer Pathfinder data (version 5). The data span the period from January 1985 to December 2004, inclusive. The linear trends were calculated to be 0.18° 0.04° and 0.17° 0.05°C decade 1 from daytime and nighttime data, respectively. However, the measured trends were found to be somewhat smaller if version 4.1 of the Pathfinder data was used, or if the time series of data ended earlier. The influence of El Nino on global temperatures can be seen clearly in the data. However, it was not found to affect the trend measurements significantly. Evidence of cool temperatures after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 was also observed.

First results of MIPAS/ENVISAT with operational Level 2 code

Abstract Michelson interferometer for passive atmospheric sounding (MIPAS) is operating on board of the ENVISAT satellite and is acquiring for the first time high spectral resolution middle infrared emission limb sounding spectra of the Earth atmosphere from space. An optimized code was developed for the Level 2 near real time analysis of MIPAS data. The code is designed to provide, in an automated and continuous way, atmospheric vertical profiles of temperature, pressure and concentrations of O3, H2O, CH4, HNO3, N2O and NO2, in the altitude range from 12 to 68 km. The performances of the code are herewith derived from the analysis of the first measurements acquired with this instrument. The assumptions made for the development of the optimized code are verified with the real data. The diagnostics of the instrument performances provide indications that there is good agreements with the results obtained by the Level 1 analysis. Consistent geophysical data are retrieved which is a first step towards a more complete assessment of retrieval accuracy. The tests have identified the possibility of measurement improvements by way of some secondary operations such as a correction of the frequency scale and the use of cloud filtering. However, no change in the algorithm baseline appears to be necessary.

Global observations of gravity waves from High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder temperature measurements: A yearlong record of temperature amplitude and vertical wavelength

[1] Global observations of gravity waves have been performed using the High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS) temperature data. A background field that was derived by dynamically calculating 31 day (±15 day) means to block the stationary component and the slowly varying planetary-scale waves, was first subtracted from the HIRDLS temperature measurements. An additional step was then taken to remove rapidly moving planetary-scale waves by developing an along-track temperature filter, which was created by averaging the profiles within a 1000 km along-track window. Finally, each individual temperature perturbation vertical profile was analyzed using a fast Fourier transform to estimate gravity wave temperature amplitudes and vertical wavelengths. The investigation of the monthly mean gravity wave temperature amplitudes for the year 2006 found that gravity wave activity in the stratosphere is highly variable with season and can be very orographically dependent, especially in the winter extratropics. The monthly zonal means show that the peak vertical wavelengths correspond closely to the peak amplitudes. The increasing amplitudes and vertical wavelengths are faster and generated at lower altitudes in the winter extratropical and high-latitude stratosphere than those in the summer tropical stratosphere. This is consistent with the lower source altitudes of orographic gravity waves in the extratropics and high latitudes and the higher source altitudes of convectively generated gravity waves in the tropics. Three cases were studied for the observed gravity waves over large mountain ranges using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts wind data. Investigations of episodes of enhanced gravity wave activity over the southern Andes, the Cascade Range, and the Rockies in winter months of 2006 indicate that orographic gravity waves refract downwind from the mountains and propagate along the direction of the intense winds. By way of contrast, observations of gravity waves around the Himalayas show a strong relationship with the cyclones in that region.

Validation of measurements of carbon monoxide from the improved stratospheric and mesospheric sounder

Carbon monoxide abundances in the middle atmosphere are retrieved from infrared measurements of the emission of this molecule at 4.6 μm taken by the improved stratospheric and mesospheric sounder (ISAMS) on board the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. In addition to a limited signal-to-noise ratio, the measured radiances include significant contamination by other compounds in the stratosphere and show clear non-local thermodynamic equilibrium effects in the mesosphere which also affect the stratospheric limb views. The application of the ISAMS retrieval method to these measurements and the particular method followed to deal with these difficulties are described. The actions carried out to understand and validate the obtained CO abundances are detailed. They include analysis of the radiances, sensitivity studies of the product to retrieval parameters, evaluation of the main sources of systematic and random errors, and comparisons with theoretical model predictions and with the few correlative measurements available. The gross features observed in the CO distribution present good agreement with dynamical-chemical models of the middle atmosphere. The aspects of the retrieval that need further improvement are identified, and the global quality of the database and the expectations for its scientific use are discussed.

Validation of aerosol measurements from the improved stratospheric and mesospheric sounder

The retrieval and validation of the infrared measurements of the stratospheric aerosol layer derived from the improved stratospheric and mesospheric sounder (ISAMS) on board the Upper Atmsophere Research Satellite (UARS) are discussed in detail. The retrieval method is presented and an error analysis and sensitivity study are used to provide an error budget. The validation involves internal consistency checks, comparisons with coincident aerosol observations from other satellite-based instruments (cryogenic limb array etalon spectrometer (CLAES) and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II)) and in situ particle counters. The internal comparisons show that the precision of the 6.20-μm retrievals are better than 30% for the data on the 32-hPa and 22-hPa pressure surfaces and that the 12.11-μm retrievals are better than 20% and 25% for the data on pressure surfaces at 46 hPa and 32 hPa, respectively. Comparison of the ISAMS aerosol extinctions with the simultaneous CLAES measurements show systematic biases for both the 6-μm and the 12-μm retrievals with ISAMS generally measuring lower extinction values than CLAES. The comparison with calculated extinctions from balloon dustsonde data at 41°N shows that the aerosol extinctions are systematically too high for pressures less than 40 hPa.

Observations of a distinctive infra‐red spectral feature in the atmospheric spectra of polar stratospheric clouds measured by the CRISTA instrument

[1] Polar stratospheric cloud particles (PSCs) are known to strongly influence the infra-red emission spectrum of the lower stratosphere in cold polar winters. The characteristics of these infra-red features have been examined using limb sounding spectra recorded by the CRISTA experiment in August 1997 when many Antarctic PSCs were observed. A distinctive spectral feature centered at 820 cm -1 has been identified in many of these spectra, the first time that a particular band has been observed in the spectra of PSCs in the atmosphere. The feature can be attributed to the ν 2 band of the NO - 3 ion and strongly suggests a condensed nitric acid component to the particles in the form of solid nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) or liquid ternary solution (STS). The spectral signatures belong to a definite sub-set of the PSC observations recorded by CRISTA. The particles are observed at temperatures well above 192 K, allowing for temperature errors, and it is suggested that NAT particles are the most likely source of the spectral signature. In addition, it is shown that PSC events in which no spectral signature is present are only observed below 192 K and display a very similar HNO 3 -temperature relationship to STS particles.

Three-dimensional model study of the Antarctic ozone hole in 2002 and comparison with 2000

Abstract An offline 3D chemical transport model (CTM) has been used to study the evolution of the Antarctic ozone hole during the sudden warming event of 2002 and to compare it with similar simulations for 2000. The CTM has a detailed stratospheric chemistry scheme and was forced by ECMWF and Met Office analyses. Both sets of meteorological analyses permit the CTM to produce a good simulation of the evolution of the 2002 vortex and its breakup, based on O3 comparisons with Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) column data, sonde data, and first results from the Environmental Satellite–Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (ENVISAT–MIPAS) instrument. The ozone chemical loss rates in the polar lower stratosphere in September 2002 were generally less than in 2000, because of the smaller average active chlorine, although around the time of the warming, the largest vortex chemical loss rates were similar to those in 2000 (i.e., −2.6 DU day−1 between 12 and 26 km). However, the disturbed v...