Journal of East China Normal University(Natural Sc ›› 2018, Vol. 2018 ›› Issue (3): 146-156.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-5641.2018.03.016

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Validation of temperature and relative humidity profiles with satellite hyperspectral infrared sounder over East China

GU Ya-ru1,2, LIU Yan-An1,2, LIU Chao-shun1,2, LI Zheng-long3   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science(Ministry of Education), East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China;
    2. School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China;
    3. Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI 53706, USA
  • Received:2017-07-13 Online:2018-05-25 Published:2018-05-29

Abstract: Satellite hyperspectral infrared data provide high temporal and spatial resolution information on atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles. They are important data source for numerical weather prediction models. Quality control of the data and correct characterization of observation errors are key to the successful application of assimilation. The radiosonde data is a direct measurement with high precision, which can be used to validate satellite retrievals. During the flood season of East China, high density radiosonde observations provide a valuable opportunity to examine the quality and quantify the error of Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) retrieved products, both of which have a similar observation time at 14:00 Beijing time. This study focuses on East China during the summer of 2015. Results show that the AIRS retrieved temperature profiles are in good agreement with the radiosonde data, whilst the AIRS retrieved relative humidity profiles show the phenomenon of wetter in higher layers and drier in lower layers. The RMSE difference of temperature and relative humidity range from 1.02℃ to 2.49℃ and from 12.91% to 23.43%, respectively. Under the AIRS and AMSU (Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit) joint inversion products, the accuracy of retrieved temperature and humidity profiles are gradually degraded with the increasing number of total cloud fraction, but the results maintain a certain accuracy as a whole. This study provides a basis for the satellite data assimilation application under cloud cover.

Key words: AIRS, temperature and humidity profiles, radiosonde data, East China, total cloud fraction

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