Changyong Cao

Satellite Meteorology and Climatology Division

Sensor Physics Branch
Research Scientist

Recent Publications

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photo of Changyong Cao Changyong Cao is a research physical scientist specializing in the calibration of radiometers onboard NOAA's operational environmental satellites. In addition to the operational pre&post calibration support, he is responsible for developing and refining the methodology for inter-satellite calibration using the Simultaneous Nadir Overpass (SNO) method, which has been used for the long-term on-orbit instrument performance monitoring of all radiometers on NOAA's polar orbiting satellites, and is being used by scientists for quantifying inter-satellite calibration biases in developing long-term time series for climate change detection studies. His primary research interest is climate quality calibration for earth observing satellites. He is co-chair of the Calibration Product Oversight Panel (CalPOP), and the chair for the GOES-R calibration working group. He also chaired the CEOS/WGCV (Committee on Earth Observation Satellites/Working Group on Calibration/Validation), the international committee for all space agencies from 2007-2008.

Before joining NOAA in 1999, Changyong was a senior scientist in remote sensing with the System Engineering and Technology Group at Lockheed Martin, NASA Stennis Space Center, where he supported a number of NASA projects, from hyperspectral spaceborne/airborne instrument preflight calibration, inflight radiometric and spectral calibration, validation and verification, to advanced remote sensing applications. He was an Assistant Professor and laboratory manager at Southern Illinois University in the early 1990s. Changyong received his Ph.D. degree in Geography specializing in remote sensing and geographic information systems from Louisiana State University in 1992. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in geography from Peking (Beijing) University in 1982.

Selected Publications

2006-2009:

Cao, C., E. Vermote, X. Xiong, 2009, Using AVHRR Lunar Observations for NDVI Long-term Climate Change Detection, submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research.

Shi, L., J. Bates, and C. Cao, 2009, Scene temperature dependent HIRS intersatellite biases, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 25, 2219-2229.

Iacovazzi, R., C. Cao, and S. Boukabara, 2009, Analysis of POES NOAA-14 MSU and NOAA-15 AMSU-A relative measurement biases for climate change detection, Journal of Geophysical Research, In press.

Cao, C., X. Xiong, A. Wu, and X. Wu, 2008, Assessing the consistency of AVHRR and MODIS L1B reflectance for generating fundamental climate data records, Journal of Geophysical Research, 1, 113, D09114, doi:10.1029/2007JD009363, 2008

Iacovazzi, R., and C. Cao, 2008, Reducing Uncertainties of SNO-estimated AMSU-A Brightness Temperature Biases at Surface-influenced Channels, Accepted by the Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 25, 2008, DOI: 10.1175/2007JTECHA1020.1.

Xiong, X., A. Wu, and C. Cao, On-orbit calibration and inter-comparison of Terra and Aqua MODIS surface temperature spectral bands, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 29, Issue 17 & 18 2008, pages 5347 – 5359.

Zhao, X., I. Laszlo, W. Guo, A. Heidinger, C. Cao, A. Jelenak, D. Tarpley, J. Sullivan, 2008, Study of Long-term Trend in Aerosol Optical Thickness Observed from Operational AVHRR Satellite Instrument, Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, D07201, doi:10.1029/2007JD009061, 2008

Wang, L., C. Cao, and M. Goldberg, 2008, Inter-calibration of GOES-11 and GOES-12 Water Vapor Channels with MetOp/IASI Hyperspectral Measurements, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, in press.

Wu, A., X. Xiong, and C. Cao, 2008, Tracking the calibration stability and consistency of the 3.7, 11.0 and 12.0µm channels of the NOAA-KLM AVHRR with MODIS, International Journal of Remote Sensing, in press.

Wu, A., X. Xiong, and C. Cao, 2008, Terra and Aqua MODIS inter- comparison of the reflective solar bands using AVHRR aboard the NOAA-KLM series of satellites, International Journal of Remote Sensing, In press.

Wang, X. Wu, Y. Li, M. Goldberg , S. Sohn, and, C. Cao, 2008, Comparison of AIRS and IASI Radiances Using GOES Imagers as Transfer Radiometers towards Climate Data Records, submitted to JAMC.

Xiong, X., A. Wu and C. Cao, 2008, On-Orbit Calibration and Inter- Comparison of Terra and Aqua MODIS Surface Temperature Spectral Bands, International Journal of Remote Sensing, in press.

Cao, C., M. Goldberg, and L. Wang, 2008, Spectral Bias Estimation of Historical HIRS using IASI Observations for Improved Fundamental Climate Data Records, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, in press.

Wang, L, and C. Cao, 2008, On-Orbit Calibration Assessment of AVHRR Longwave Channels on MetOp-A using IASI, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 46, No. 11, November 2008.

Iacovazzi, R., and C. Cao, 2007, Quantifying EOS-Aqua and NOAA POES AMSU-A Brightness Temperature Biases for Weather and Climate Applications Utilizing the SNO Method, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, DOI: 10.1175/JTECH2095.1, November, 2007.

Cao, C., K. Jarva, and P. Ciren, 2007, An improved algorithm for the operational calibration of HIRS. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 24, 169- 181.

Wang, L., C. Cao, and P. Ciren, 2007: Assessing NOAA-16 HIRS Radiance Accuracy Using Simultaneous Nadir Overpass Observations from AIRS. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 24, No. 9, September 2007, 1546-1561.

Zou, C., M. Goldberg, Z. Cheng, N. Grody, J. Sullivan, C. Cao, and D. Tarpley, 2006, Recalibration of Microwave Sounding Unit for Climate Studies Using Simultaneous Nadir Overpasses, Journal of Geophysical Research, 111, D19114, doi:10.1029/2005JD006798. (published Oct. 14, 2006)

2001-2006:

Cao, C., P. Ciren, M. Goldberg, F. Weng, and C. Zou, 2005, Simultaneous Nadir Overpasses for NOAA-6 to NOAA-17 satellites from 1980 to 2003 for the intersatellite calibration of radiometers, NOAA Technical Report.

Cao, C., H. Xu, J. Sullivan, L. McMillin, P. Ciren, and Y. Hou, 2005, Intersatellite radiance biases for the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounders (HIRS) onboard NOAA-15, -16, and -17 from simultaneous nadir observations. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 22, No. 4, pp. 381-395.

Ignatov, A., C. Cao, J. Sullivan, X. Wu, R. Levin, R. Galvin, 2005, Use of inflight space count measurements to constrain the calibration offset in the AVHRR solar reflectance bands, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 22, pp.180-200.

Cao, C., J. Sullivan, E. Maturi, and J. Sapper, 2004, The effect of orbit drift on the calibration of the 3.7um channel of the AVHRR onboard NOAA-14 and its impact on night-time sea surface temperature retrievals (abstract), International Journal of Remote Sensing, 25, No. 5, 975-986.

Cao, C., M. Weinreb, and H. Xu, 2004, Predicting simultaneous nadir overpasses among polar-orbiting meteorological satellites for the intersatellite calibration of radiometers (abstract). Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 21, April 2004, pp. 537-542.

Rao, C.R.N., C. Cao, and N. Zhang, 2003, Inter-calibration of the MODIS and ATSR-2, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 24, No. 9, pp.1913-1924.

Heidinger, A., C. Cao, and J. Sullivan, 2002, Using MODIS to calibrate AVHRR reflectance channels, Journal of Geophysical Research, 107, No. D23, 4702.

Cao, C., M. Weinreb, and J. Sullivan, 2001, Solar Contamination Effects on the Infrared Channels of the AVHRR, Journal of Geophysical Research, 106, No. D24, pp. 33463-33469.

E-mail: Changyong.Cao@noaa.gov