Characterization of Bias of Advanced Himawari Imager Infrared Observations from NWP Background Simulations Using CRTM and RTTOV

Abstract

AbstractStarting in 2014, the new generation of Japanese geostationary meteorological satellites carries an Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) to provide the observations of visible, near infrared, and infrared with much improved spatial and temporal resolutions. For applications of the AHI measurements in numerical weather prediction (NWP) data assimilation systems, the biases of the AHI brightness temperatures at channels 7–16 from the model simulations are first characterized and evaluated using both the Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM) and the Radiative Transfer for the TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (RTTOV). It is found that AHI biases under a clear-sky atmosphere are independent of satellite zenith angle except for channel 7. The biases of three water vapor channels increase with scene brightness temperatures and are nearly constant except at high brightness temperatures for the remaining infrared channels. The AHI biases at all the infrared channels are less than 0.6 and 1.2 K over ocean and land, respectively. The differences in biases between RTTOV and CRTM with the land surface emissivity model used in RTTOV are small except for the upper-tropospheric water vapor channels 8 and 9 and the low-tropospheric carbon dioxide channel 16. Since the inputs used for simulations are the same for CRTM and RTTOV, the differential biases at the water vapor channels may be associated with subtle differences in forward models.