Aura Microwave Limb Sounder upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric H2O and relative humidity with respect to ice validation

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Read Full Article (file size: 17787448 bytes) Cited by JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 112, D24S35, doi:10.1029/2007JD008752, 2007 Aura Microwave Limb Sounder upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric H₂O and relative humidity with respect to ice validation W. G. Read Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA A. Lambert Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA J. Bacmeister Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA R. E. Cofield Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA L. E. Christensen Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA D. T. Cuddy Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA W. H. Daffer Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA B. J. Drouin Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA E. Fetzer Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA L. Froidevaux Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA R. Fuller Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA R. Herman Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA R. F. Jarnot Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA J. H. Jiang Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA Y. B. Jiang Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA K. Kelly NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Chemical Sciences Division, Boulder, Colorado, USA B. W. Knosp Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA L. J. Kovalenko Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA N. J. Livesey Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA H.-C. Liu Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA G. L. Manney Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA H. M. Pickett Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA H. C. Pumphrey Department of Meteorology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK K. H. Rosenlof NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Chemical Sciences Division, Boulder, Colorado, USA X. Sabounchi Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA M. L. Santee Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA M. J. Schwartz Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA W. V. Snyder Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA P. C. Stek Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA H. Su Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA L. L. Takacs Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA R. P. Thurstans Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA H. Vömel Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA P. A. Wagner Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA J. W. Waters Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA C. R. Webster Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA E. M. Weinstock Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA D. L. Wu Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA Abstract The validation of version 2.2 (v2.2) H₂O measurements from the Earth Observing System (EOS) Microwave Limb Sounder (Aura MLS) on the Aura satellite are presented. Results from comparisons made with Aqua Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), Vaisala radiosondes, frost point hygrometer, and WB57 aircraft hygrometers are presented. Comparisons with the Aura MLS v1.5 H₂O, Goddard global modeling and assimilation office Earth Observing System analyses (GEOS-5) are also discussed. For H₂O mixing ratios less than 500 ppmv, the MLS v2.2 has an accuracy better than 25% between 316 and 147 hPa. The precision is 65% at 316 hPa that reduces to 25% at 147 hPa. This performance is better than expected from MLS measurement systematic error analyses. MLS overestimates H₂O for mixing ratios greater than 500 ppmv which is consistent with a scaling error in either the calibrated or calculated MLS radiances. The validation of the accuracy of MLS v2.2 H₂O from 121 to 83 hPa which is expected to be better than 15% cannot be confirmed at this time because of large disagreements among the hygrometers used in the AVE campaigns. The precision of the v2.2 H₂O from 121 to 83 hPa is 10–20%. The vertical resolution is 1.5–3.5 km depending on height. The horizontal resolution is 210 × 7 km² along and perpendicular to the Aura orbit track, respectively. Relative humidity is calculated from H₂O and temperature. The precision, accuracy, and spatial resolution are worse than for H₂O. Received 4 April 2007; accepted 23 October 2007; published 28 December 2007. Index Terms: 6969 Radio Science: Remote sensing; 0365 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere: composition and chemistry; 1807 Hydrology: Climate impacts; 1616 Global Change: Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513); 1640 Global Change: Remote sensing (1855). Read Full Article (file size: 17787448 bytes) Cited by Citation: Read, W. G., et al. (2007), Aura Microwave Limb Sounder upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric H₂O and relative humidity with respect to ice validation, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D24S35, doi:10.1029/2007JD008752. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.

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