Abstract

Under the GOES-R activity, new algorithms are being developed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) to derive surface and Top of the Atmosphere (TOA) shortwave (SW) radiative fluxes from the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), the primary instrument on GOES-R. This paper describes a support effort in the development and evaluation of the ABI instrument capabilities to derive such fluxes. Specifically, scene dependent narrow-to-broadband (NTB) transformations are developed to facilitate the use of observations from ABI at the TOA. Simulations of NTB transformations have been performed with MODTRAN4.3 using an updated selection of atmospheric profiles as implemented with the final ABI specifications. These are combined with Angular Distribution Models (ADMs), which are a synergy of ADMs from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) and from simulations. Surface condition at the scale of the ABI products as needed to compute the TOA radiative fluxes come from the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). Land classification at 1/6° resolution for 18 surface types are converted to the ABI 2-km grid over the (CONtiguous States of the United States) (CONUS) and subsequently re-grouped to 12 IGBP types to match the classification of the CERES ADMs. In the simulations, default information on aerosols and clouds is based on the ones used in MODTRAN. Comparison of derived fluxes at the TOA is made with those from the CERES and/or the Fast Longwave and Shortwave Radiative Flux (FLASHFlux) data. A satisfactory agreement between the fluxes was observed and possible reasons for differences have been identified; the agreement of the fluxes at the TOA for predominantly clear sky conditions was found to be better than for cloudy sky due to possible time shift in observation times between the two observing systems that might have affected the position of the clouds during such periods.

Highlights

  • When a new satellite is contemplated, the exact characteristics of the newly selected sensors are not fully known; simulations of proposed sensors are not readily available

  • The FLASHFLUX is in footprint format it is a variable in time [flux]

  • Points that fall in the ±5 min interval of the GOES-R scanning time are used using bilinear interpolation method to get the values for GOES-R domain (e.g., if the GOES-R scanning time c Author(s) 2021

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Summary

Introduction

When a new satellite is contemplated, the exact characteristics of the newly selected sensors are not fully known; simulations of proposed sensors are not readily available. There is a need to obtain a priori information on the expected performance of the new instruments. This is usually accomplished by using characteristics of instruments in closest resemblance to the proposed ones and performing simulations that can provide insight on the expected performance of the new instrument. An evolutionary process can be expected and it did precede activities reported in this manuscript. The “indirect path method” used at the Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) (Laszlo et al, 2020) for deriving SW radiative fluxes from satellite observations requires knowledge of the SW broadband (0.2 – 4.0 μm) top of the atmosphere (TOA) albedo.

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