AIRS Products for the National Weather Service

1
AIRS Products for the National Weather
Service Brad Zavodsky SPoRT Science Advisory
Committee June 12, 2007
2
Overview
Relevance to SPoRT Taking real-time AIRS L2
profile data and creating useful tools to assist
NWS forecasters improve 0 24h forecasts

• AIRS Instrument Review
• SPoRT/SOO workshop and AIRS Science Team
  collaborations
• Current Work
• Point Location Skew-Ts
• Gridded AIRS product for WFO
• Boundary Layer Height
• Summary/Future Plans

3
AIRS Instrument Review

• Aboard Aqua polar orbiter with early afternoon
  equator crossing
• 2378 spectral channels from 3.7 to 15.4 µm) (650
  2675 cm-1)
• 3 x 3 footprints (golfball L1B 15km L2 50 km
  spatial resolution)
• L2 products have
• V4 (current version) 0.9-1.3K global ocean and
  land (in 1 km layers) lt15 RH (in 2 km layers)
• quality indicators (QIs) based on how deep the
  sounding goes in the atmosphere
• V5 (available S07) will have improved accuracy
  (WV profile and over non-frozen land) and
  level-by-level error estimates for better QIs

4
Outcome of SPoRT/SOO Workshop and AIRS Science
Team Visit

• AIRS L2 products beneficial because they provide
  upper air information in spatial and temporal
  data voids
• Feedback from SPoRT/SOO workshop determined that
  AIRS L2 products could help solve specific
  forecast problems
• atmospheric destabilization leading to
  convective storms
• diagnoses of 4D moisture variability in the
  mesoscale (particularly ahead of developing
  weather)
• improved 0 24 hr prediction of sensible
  weather elements
• fog, smoke, and low cloud detection (boundary
  layer)
• Visit by AIRS Science Team members from JPL to
  discuss operational use of AIRS with WFO yielded
  three potential products
• L2 soundings at specific points (used as RAOBS)
• L3 gridded product (generated from L2 profiles
  used as model)
• Boundary layer height product

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Current Work AIRS Skew-Ts at Point Locations

• Provide WFO sounding information for nearest
  high-quality AIRS sounding
• Overlay AIRS and RAOB data at RAOB locations
  (e.g. BNA)
• Produce just AIRS profiles at latitude/
  longitude for locations lacking RAOB (e.g. HUN)
• Introduce into AWIPS as RAOB data

00Z RAOB 12Z RAOB AIRS
AIRS
Sample AIRS/RAOB overlain Skew-T for Nashville,
TN (BNA)
Sample AIRS Skew-T for Huntsville, AL (HUN) (no
available RAOB)
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Current Work Gridded AIRS Product for WFO
AWIPS display of AIRS 1000 hPa T
AWIPS display of AIRS 1000 hPa Td

• Proof of concept prototype using V4 standard
  AIRS profiles and Cressman analysis
• Produces smooth, realistic looking field of
  temperatures and dew points with no
  discontinuities from land to water

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Current Work Gridded AIRS Product for WFO
(cntd)
AWIPS display of AIRS T cross section
AWIPS display of AIRS Td cross section

• Easily generates vertical cross sections
• Able to create point soundings with calculated
  indices (e.g. CAPE, LCL, etc.) at any location
  there are data

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Current Work Boundary Layer Height Product
AIRS MIPS

• Important to validate AIRS lower layers in order
  to use product (assist JPL in this task)
• Comparison between UAH MPR data collocated in
  space and time
• Preliminary results indicate AIRS and MPR show
  similar structure of lower atmosphereshould lead
  to similar boundary layer height
• Product for WFO would convey boundary layer
  height on a pixel-by-pixel basis
• forecasters could view plan view of boundary
  layer or cross section (similar viewing to
  gridded product)

Same lower atmosphere structure
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Summary

• AIRS profiles are a valuable asset to the
  operational community by providing upper air
  information in spatial and temporal data voids
• The SPoRT/SOO workshop and meetings with members
  of the AIRS Science Team helped identify three
  possible products that could assist forecasters
  with specific forecasting problems
• L2 soundings at specific points
• L3 gridded product
• Boundary Layer height product
• Continued collaboration with the AIRS Science
  Team and NWS will help determine best possible
  products for operational use

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Future Work

• Eagerly awaiting implementation of V5 AIRS
  algorithm sometime this summerworking closely
  with JPL and University of Wisconsin to get AIRS
  V5 on direct broadcast as quickly as possible
• Add AIRS point soundings as an additional RAOB
  type in AWIPS
• Adapt the prototype gridded product to use V5
  support product and get further assistance from
  JPL in producing a regional, gridded product in
  near-real-time (perhaps a new L3 product in V6
  release)
• Produce files in real-time and transfer to WFOs
  for forecaster use
• Assist JPL with validation of AIRS boundary
  layer using UAH MIPS, which could lead to a
  boundary layer height product for WFOs