Satellite-based Hyperspectral Sounder Retrievals in Real-time Weather Applications

Abstract:

Real-time weather monitoring and forecasting abilities have significantly improved by the new generation of weather satellites, which provide routine access to observations and atmospheric data. In addition of providing visual images, satellite-based instrumentation also provide spectral radiance data that allow the computation of atmospheric temperature, moisture and trace gas profiles and other geophysical variables including cloud parameters. Hyperspectral sounders, AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder), IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) and CrIS (Cross-track Infrared Sounder) on low-Earth orbiting satellites, provide atmospheric profiles on a global scale with the spatial and temporal resolution needed to complement traditional profile data sources such as that obtained by radiosondes. The goal of this paper is to describe the information that hyperspectral sounders are capable of adding to weather monitoring and short-term forecasting systems. Retrievals derived from all four operational sounders are used in time-series to describe the pre-convective environment (including moisture advection and stability tendencies) antecedent to the initiation of severe weather. Temporal and spatial consistency and continuity is achieved among different instruments on different platforms through the use of a single atmospheric profile retrieval algorithm. Our results demonstrate the utility of using hyperspectral sounding products from multiple satellites for the real-time weather monitoring/prediction operation.