Temperature Science
Studying Atmospheric Temperature with AIRS Data
April 2003 Average Brightness Temperature
Temperature and Water Vapor Profiles are the primary standard products from AIRS. They are widely used for weather forecast improvement operations and research, climate model validation, and climate process studies. Like all the AIRS products, they are provided globally, daily, over land and ocean under clear and cloudy conditions. The wide swath and high yield make the AIRS a desired product for global modelers.
Traditionally, forecast centers have assimilated radiances, however, recent work has shown that assimilation of temperature profiles offers considerable improvement that was not realized before. Modelers at NASA s Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center have found that assimilation of temperature and water vapor into the regional models can improve prediction of pressure anomalies and rainfall. Additionally, AIRS temperature and moisture profiles are being used operationally by NWS weather forecast offices in their Advanced Weather Information Processing System (AWIPS) as a supplement to the coarsely spaced twice daily weather balloon observations. These asynoptic profiles provide mesoscale spatial resolution information of changing moisture and stability fields important for convective weather development over the continental United States. The AIRS Temperature and Water Vapor Profiles are well validated. That makes them useful for validating climate models. Results have shown that several major climate models have considerable errors in the vertical and horizontal distribution of water vapor on an annual climatology. Scientists have improved the understanding of the process of supersaturation in the stratosphere using AIRS data; an important result for understanding the role of clouds on global warming. Most recently, scientists have related reduced cloudiness and downwelling radiation to the associated ice loss in the arctic region. Other climate applications include hydration of the upper troposphere by tropical cyclones, boundary-layer free-troposphere temperature correlations, processes driving the Madden-Julian Oscillation, gravity waves and deep convection.There is no question that the AIRS atmospheric Temperature and Water Vapor products have found their way into the mainstream weather and climate research and operational communities.
