Estimation of Near-Real-Time Outgoing Longwave Radiation from Cross-Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) Radiance Measurements

Abstract

AbstractThis study describes the algorithm for deriving near-real-time outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) from Cross-Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) hyperspectral infrared sounder radiance measurements. The estimation of OLR on a near-real-time basis provides a unique perspective for studying the variability of Earth’s current atmospheric radiation budget. CrIS-derived OLR values are estimated as a weighted linear combination of CrIS-adjusted “pseudochannel” radiances. The algorithm uses the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) as the transfer instrument, and a least squares regression algorithm is applied to generate two sets of regression coefficients. The first set of regression coefficients is derived from collocated Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) OLR on Aqua and pseudochannel radiances calculated from AIRS radiances. The second set of coefficients is derived to adjust the CrIS pseudochannel radiance to account for the differences in pseudochannel radiances between AIRS and CrIS. The CrIS-derived OLR is then validated by using a limited set of available CERES SNPP OLR observations over 1° × 1° global grids, as well as monthly OLR mean and interannual differences against CERES OLR datasets from SNPP and Aqua. The results show that the bias of global CrIS OLR estimation is within ±2 W m−2 and that the standard deviation is within 5 W m−2 for all conditions, and ±1 and 3 W m−2 for homogeneous scenes. The interannual CrIS-derived OLR differences agree well with Aqua CERES interannual OLR differences on a 1° × 1° spatial scale, with only a small drift of the global mean of these two datasets of around 0.004 W m−2.