Open AccessThe Radiometric Sensitivity Requirements for Satellite Microwave Temperature Sounding Instruments for Numerical Weather Prediction
Author(s) -
William Bell,
Sabatino Di Michele,
Péter Bauer,
Tony McNally,
Stephen English,
Nigel Atkinson,
F. Hilton,
Janet E. Charlton
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of atmospheric and oceanic technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.774
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1520-0426
pISSN - 0739-0572
DOI - 10.1175/2009jtecha1293.1
Subject(s) - advanced microwave sounding unit , depth sounding , atmospheric sounding , remote sensing , environmental science , atmospheric infrared sounder , brightness temperature , satellite , meteorology , microwave , radiosonde , noise (video) , radiometer , radiometry , troposphere , geology , computer science , geography , physics , telecommunications , oceanography , astronomy , artificial intelligence , image (mathematics)
The sensitivity of NWP forecast accuracy with respect to the radiometric performance of microwave sounders is assessed through a series of observing system experiments at the Met Office and ECMWF. The observing system experiments compare the impact of normal data from a single Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) with that from an AMSU where synthetic noise has been added. The results show a measurable reduction in forecast improvement in the Southern Hemisphere, with improvements reduced by 11% for relatively small increases in radiometric noise [noise-equivalent brightness temperature (NEΔT) increased from 0.1 to 0.2 K for remapped data]. The impact of microwave sounding data is shown to be significantly less than was the case prior to the use of advanced infrared sounder data [Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)], with microwave sounding data now reducing Southern Hemisphere forecast errors by approximately 10% compared to 40% in the pre-AIRS/IASI period.