We will apply our extensive experience with modern microwave and infrared sounding systems to ensure that the NPP/NPOESS ATMS and CrIMSS are properly calibrated and optimized for climate applications. As we have done since 2003, we will work in a consulting capacity and offer our expertise in microwave instrument science and microwave-infrared sounding systems to the instrument providers, the NPOESS system contractor, the NPP spacecraft contractor, the NPP program office and science staff, and the Integrated Program Office and its science staff, with emphasis on the climate quality of the observations. We will determine requirements for post-launch validation to assess the climate aspects of the mission and develop suitable validation approaches and scenarios as well as suitable in situ and aircraft campaigns that may be required beyond those planned by IPO and the system contractor. We will also apply the climate researcher's perspective to the problem of determining the suitability of CrIMSS data in climate research - and determining additional steps that may be required to make the data of the necessary quality - by engaging climate researchers. For this portion of the work we intend to work in a team mode, where the climate scientists are the points of focus and the instrument scientists and other relevant experts in effect engage in a discussion with the climate research community to arrive at solutions meaningful to that community. It is anticipated that this approach will provide a solution to problems related to divergent interests and a lack of focus within the NPP sounding "team".
We will concentrate our efforts in five areas: microwave sensor calibration issues, microwave-infrared sounder suite issues, sounder data product issues, post-launch calibration and validation, and requirements flow-down derived from climate research data needs and usage patterns. The latter is also intended to serve as an effort to build an integrated sounding team and to serve as a pathfinder for integration of data sets from diverse missions and sensor systems to support climate research.
The proposed work is of central importance to NASA, and it is well aligned with NASA objectives and will provide important services to ensure the success of a mission that is of prime importance to the nation's and NASA's climate research objectives. The success of the proposed team effort that is centered around climate research scientists will be particularly significant, since it can be expected to lead to results that will be highly relevant and meaningful to the "climate missions" NASA is hoping NPP and subsequently NPOESS will become. We furthermore expect that the methodologies we will develop under that team effort will have applicability to other missions as well, and we will demonstrate how these methods can be used to integrate data from a diverse set of missions with diverse characteristics for a holistic approach to climate research with satellite data.
