Advanced sounder validation studies from recent NAST-I airborne field campaigns

摘要

The evolution of satellite measurement systems continues to improve their research and operational impact and is essential for advancing global observations of the Earth's atmosphere, clouds, and surface. Measurement system and data product validation is required to fully exploit these data for enabling their intended enhancements in weather prediction, climate monitoring capability, and environmental change detection. Airborne field campaigns can play a vital role in such validation and contribute to assessing and improving satellite sensor measurements and associated data products. The NASA LaRC National Airborne Sounder Testbed - Interferometer (NAST-I) was part of the aircraft payload for the two field experiments conducted to address Suomi NPP (SNPP) validation since the satellite's launch in late 2011: 1) mid-latitude flights based out of Palmdale, CA during May 2013 (SNPP-1), and 2) flights over Greenland during March 2015 while based out of Keflavik, Iceland (SNPP-2). This presentation focuses on radiance analysis from the SNPP airborne field campaigns with a particular emphasis on NAST-I inter-comparisons with the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) for challenging cold scene conditions as observed during SNPP-2.