Using the Himawari-8 AHI Multi-Channel to Improve the Calculation Accuracy of Outgoing Longwave Radiation at the Top of the Atmosphere

Abstract

In this study, Himawari-8 Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) longwave channel data that is sensitive to clouds and absorption gas were used to improve the accuracy of the algorithm used to calculate outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) at the top of the atmosphere. A radiative transfer model with a variety of atmospheric conditions was run using Garand vertical profile data as input data. The results of the simulation showed that changes in AHI channels 8, 12, 15, and 16, which were used to calculate OLR, were sensitive to changes in cloud characteristics (cloud optical thickness and cloud height) and absorption gases (water vapor, O3, CO2, aerosol optical thickness) in the atmosphere. When compared to long-term analysis OLR data from 2017, as recorded by the Cloud and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES), the OLR calculated in this study had an annual mean bias of 2.28 Wm−2 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 11.03 Wm−2. The new calculation method mitigated the problem of overestimations in OLR in mostly cloudy and overcast regions and underestimated OLR in cloud-free desert regions. It is also an improvement over the result from the existing OLR calculation algorithm, which uses window and water vapor channels.