FastFind »   Lastname: doi:10.1029/ Year: Advanced Search  

AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • data assimilation
  • infrared radiances
  • ice clouds

Index Terms

  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Instruments and techniques
  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Middle atmosphere: composition and chemistry
  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Middle atmosphere: constituent transport and chemistry
  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Cloud/radiation interaction

Abstract

Ice polar stratospheric clouds detected from assimilation of Atmospheric Infrared Sounder data

Ivanka Stajner

Science Applications International Corporation, Beltsville, Maryland, USA

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA

Craig Benson

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA

Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Hui-Chun Liu

Science Applications International Corporation, Beltsville, Maryland, USA

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA

Steven Pawson

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA

Nicole Brubaker

Science Applications International Corporation, Beltsville, Maryland, USA

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA

Lang-Ping Chang

Science Applications International Corporation, Beltsville, Maryland, USA

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA

Lars Peter Riishojgaard

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA

Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Ricardo Todling

Science Applications International Corporation, Beltsville, Maryland, USA

Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA

A novel technique is presented for the detection and mapping of ice polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), using brightness temperatures from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) “moisture” channel near 6.79 μm. It is based on observed-minus-forecast residuals (O-Fs) computed when using AIRS radiances in the Goddard Earth Observing System version 5 (GEOS-5) data assimilation system. Brightness temperatures are computed from six-hour GEOS-5 forecasts using a radiation transfer module under clear-sky conditions, meaning they will be too high when ice PSCs are present. We study whether the O-Fs contain quantitative information about PSCs by comparison with sparse data from the Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement (POAM) III solar occultation instrument. AIRS O-Fs lower than −2 K generally coincide with PSCs observed by POAM III. Synoptic maps of AIRS O-Fs lower than −2 K are constructed as a proxy for ice PSCs. These are used to investigate spatio-temporal variations of Antarctic PSCs in the year 2004.

Received 19 January 2007; accepted 16 July 2007; published 16 August 2007.

Citation: Stajner, I., C. Benson, H.-C. Liu, S. Pawson, N. Brubaker, L.-P. Chang, L. P. Riishojgaard, and R. Todling (2007), Ice polar stratospheric clouds detected from assimilation of Atmospheric Infrared Sounder data, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L16802, doi:10.1029/2007GL029415.

Cited By

Please wait one moment ...