Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite System Research Articles

SCOPE: Spectral cloud optical property estimation using real-time GOES-R longwave imagery

The output of ground-based, solar power generation systems is strongly dependent on cloud cover, which is the main contributor to solar power variability and uncertainty. Cloud optical properties are typically over-simplified in forecasting applications due to the lack of real-time, accurate estimates. In this work, we introduce a method, the Spectral Cloud Optical Property Estimation (SCOPE), for estimating cloud optical properties directly from high-resolution (5-min, 2 km) imagery from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R, which is the newest generation of the GOES system. The SCOPE method couples a two-stream, spectrally resolved radiative model with the longwave GOES-R sensor output to simultaneously estimate the cloud optical depth, cloud top height, and cloud thickness during both day and night at 5-min intervals. The accuracy of SCOPE is evaluated using one year (2018) of downwelling longwave (DLW) radiation measurements from the Surface Radiation Budget Network, which consists of seven sites spread across climatically diverse regions of the contiguous United States. During daytime clear-sky periods, SCOPE predicts DLW within instrument uncertainty (10 W m−2) for four of the seven locations, with the remaining locations yielding errors of the order of 11.2, 17.7, and 20.2 W m−2. For daytime cloudy-sky, daytime all-sky (clear or cloudy), and nighttime all-sky periods, SCOPE achieves root mean square error values of 23.0–34.5 W m−2 for all seven locations. These results, together with the low-latency of the method (∼1 s per sample), show that SCOPE provides a viable solution to real-time, accurate estimation of cloud optical properties for both day and night.

Variations of Solar EUV Radiation Fluxes in Hydrogen Lines from Observations by the TIMED Satellite in Cycle 23 and by SDO/EVE in Cycle 24

Studies in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray ranges of the solar spectrum are important due to the active role of radiation of these ranges in the formation of the Earth's ionosphere. Photons of the EUV range are completely absorbed in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere and induce the excitation, dissociation, and ionization of its different components and, finally, the atmospheric heating. From the archive data of the EUV Variability Experiment of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO/EVE), we formed series of diurnal values of the background fluxes radiated beyond flares in the EUV lines HeII (30.4 nm), HeI (58.4 nm), CIII (97.7 nm), and FeXVIII (9.4 nm) in cycle 24 (from 2010 to 2017). These fluxes are compared to the corresponding values of the radio flux F10.7 at a wavelength of 10.7 cm and the background radiation flux F0.1-0.8 in the X-ray range between 0.1 and 0.8 nm measured onboard the GOES-15 satellite of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. Comparative analysis has shown that the solar radiation in individual lines of the EUV range and the fluxes F10.7 and F0.1-0.8 are closely interrelated.

Flux Variations in Lines of Solar EUV Radiation beyond Flares in Cycle 24

Studies in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray ranges of the solar spectrum are important due to the active role of radiation of these ranges in the formation of the Earth’s ionosphere. Photons of the EUV range are completely absorbed in the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere and induce the excitation, dissociation, and ionization of its different components and, finally, atmospheric heating. From the archive data of the EUV Variability Experiment of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO/EVE), we formed series of diurnal values of the background fluxes radiated beyond flares in the EUV lines HeII (30.4 nm), HeI (58.4 nm), CIII (97.7 nm), and FeXVIII (9.4 nm) in cycle 24 (from 2010 to 2017). These fluxes are compared to the corresponding values of the radio flux F10.7 at a wavelength of 10.7 cm and the background radiation flux F0.1−0.8 in the X-ray range between 0.1 and 0.8 nm measured onboard the GOES-15 satellite of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. Comparative analysis has shown that the solar radiation in individual lines of the EUV range and the fluxes F10.7 and F0.1−0.8 are closely interrelated.

Unseen Dust Emission and Global Dust Abundance: Documenting Dust Emission from the Mojave Desert (USA) by Daily Remote Camera Imagery and Wind‐Erosion Measurements

AbstractA large gap in understanding the effects of atmospheric dust at all spatial scales is uncertainty about how much and whence dust is emitted annually. Direct digital recording of dust emission at high spatial and temporal resolution would together with periodic flux measurements support improved estimates of local‐scale dust flux. Remote camera recording of dust‐emitting settings on and around Soda Lake (Mojave Desert) was conducted every 15 min during daylight between 10 November 2010 and 31 December 2016. Examination of 135,000 images revealed frequent dust events characterized as dust days, 68 per year on average, when dust plumes obscured mountains beyond areas of dust generation. Dust was not observed from examination of satellite retrievals (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite System) during six cloudless days of extreme emission. Estimated masses of emitted dust fractions were made from measured horizontal mass flux, sediment particle sizes, and areas of dust generation. Between April 2000 and June 2013, nearly 4 Tg/year of dust (particles < 63 μm) were emitted across the study area. Higher rates (about 7 Tg/year) were estimated following the December 2010 Mojave River flood that deposited sediment across the lake basin. Within the Mojave and Great Basin deserts of western North America, many settings akin to those at Soda Lake similarly emit dust that is rarely detected in satellite retrievals, implying that local and regional dust emissions from western North America are far underestimated and that, by extension to relatively small dust‐source areas across all drylands, global dust emissions may also be greatly underestimated.

Comparison of Daytime Low‐Level Cloud Properties Derived From GOES and ARM SGP Measurements

AbstractLarge‐scale satellite data are critical for both verifying and improving general circulation model parameterizations of clouds and radiation for climate prediction. For reliable application of satellite data sets in cloud processes and climate models, it is important to have a reasonable estimate of the errors in the derived cloud properties. The daytime single‐layered low‐level cloud properties retrieved by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system (GOES) are compared with ground‐based observations and retrievals over the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) Central Facility from June 1998 to December 2006. The GOES retrievals are made via the Visible‐Infrared Solar‐infrared Split‐window Technique. They are spatially averaged within a 0.15° × 0.15° box centered on the ARM SGP site, and the ARM surface observations are temporally averaged ±15 min around the GOES scans to produce collocated pairs. Comparisons are made for monthly means, diurnal means, and one‐to‐one GOES and ARM collocated pairs. GOES Teff is highly correlated with ARM Ttop cloud temperature, having an R2 value of 0.75, though GOES exhibits a cold bias. GOES‐retrieved τ and liquid water path have very good agreement with ARM retrievals with R2s of 0.45 and 0.47, while re (GOES), on average, is about 2 μm greater than ARM re. An examination of solar and viewing geometry has shown that GOES‐retrieved mean re and τ values are impacted by solar zenith angle and especially scattering angle, which is not unexpected and needs to be accounted for by users.

Effects of the September 2005 Solar Flares and Solar Proton Events on the Middle Atmosphere in WACCM

AbstractThis work investigates middle atmosphere effects of the September 2005 solar flares and solar proton events (SPEs). X‐17 and X‐6.2 flares occurred on 7 and 9 September, respectively, while two moderate SPEs occurred on 10 and 15 September. Flare ionization and dissociation were calculated in the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) using the Flare Irradiance Spectral Model. Proton measurements from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system were used to compute solar proton ionization. SPEs are shown to have a larger impact than solar flares on the polar stratosphere and mesosphere; however, flares have a larger influence on the sunlit and equatorial lower thermosphere. The two flares differed significantly with respect to photon spectrum. The larger, X‐17 flare was stronger during the impulsive phase, while the X‐6.2 flare was stronger during the gradual phase. This resulted in the X‐17 flare causing more initial ionization but for a shorter duration. The simulated flare impacts also differed because specific wavelengths of the flares influenced the atmosphere above the model top. Model‐measurement comparisons show that WACCM captures the overall timing and spatial distribution of the observed electron enhancements, indicating a reasonable simulation of flare and SPE‐induced ionization. Both the SPEs and flares caused odd nitrogen increases in the mesosphere. Odd hydrogen produced in the lower mesosphere by the SPEs led to short‐lived ozone decreases of nearly 100%. The flares caused small temperature increases in the lower thermosphere but had no effect on the stratosphere.

Systematic inference of the long-range dependence and heavy-tail distribution parameters of ARFIMA models

Long-Range Dependence (LRD) and heavy-tailed distributions are ubiquitous in natural and socio-economic data. Such data can be self-similar whereby both LRD and heavy-tailed distributions contribute to the self-similarity as measured by the Hurst exponent. Some methods widely used in the physical sciences separately estimate these two parameters, which can lead to estimation bias. Those which do simultaneous estimation are based on frequentist methods such as Whittle’s approximate maximum likelihood estimator. Here we present a new and systematic Bayesian framework for the simultaneous inference of the LRD and heavy-tailed distribution parameters of a parametric ARFIMA model with non-Gaussian innovations. As innovations we use the α-stable and t-distributions which have power law tails. Our algorithm also provides parameter uncertainty estimates. We test our algorithm using synthetic data, and also data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system (GOES) solar X-ray time series. These tests show that our algorithm is able to accurately and robustly estimate the LRD and heavy-tailed distribution parameters.

Multipoint spacecraft observations of long-lasting poloidal Pc4 pulsations in the dayside magnetosphere on 1–2 May 2014

Abstract. We use magnetic field and plasma observations from the Van Allen Probes, Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system (GOES) spacecraft to study the spatial and temporal characteristics of long-lasting poloidal Pc4 pulsations in the dayside magnetosphere. The pulsations were observed after the main phase of a moderate storm during low geomagnetic activity. The pulsations occurred during various interplanetary conditions and the solar wind parameters do not seem to control the occurrence of the pulsations. The most striking feature of the Pc4 magnetic field pulsations was their occurrence at similar locations during three of four successive orbits. We used this information to study the latitudinal nodal structure of the pulsations and demonstrated that the latitudinal extent of the magnetic field pulsations did not exceed 2 Earth radii (RE). A phase shift between the azimuthal and radial components of the electric and magnetic fields was observed from ZSM = 0.30 RE to ZSM = −0.16 RE. We used magnetic and electric field data from Van Allen Probes to determine the structure of ULF waves. We showed that the Pc4 magnetic field pulsations were radially polarized and are the second-mode harmonic waves. We suggest that the spacecraft were near a magnetic field null during the second orbit when they failed to observe the magnetic field pulsations at the local times where pulsations were observed on previous and successive orbits. We investigated the spectral structure of the Pc4 pulsations. Each spacecraft observed a decrease of the dominant period as it moved to a smaller L shell (stronger magnetic field strength). We demonstrated that higher frequencies occurred at times and locations where Alfvén velocities were greater, i.e., on Orbit 1. There is some evidence that the periods of the pulsations increased during the plasmasphere refilling following the storm.

Observation of TEC perturbation associated with medium‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbance and possible seeding mechanism of atmospheric gravity wave at a Brazilian sector

AbstractIn the present study, we document daytime total electron content (TEC) disturbances associated with medium‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs), on few chosen geomagnetically quiet days over Southern Hemisphere of Brazilian longitude sector. These disturbances are derived from TEC data obtained using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver networks. From the keograms and cross‐correlation maps, the TEC disturbances are identified as the MSTIDs that are propagating equatorward‐eastward, having most of their average wavelengths longer in latitude than in longitude direction. These are the important outcomes of the present study which suggest that the daytime MSTIDs over Southern Hemisphere are similar to their counterparts in the Northern Hemisphere. Another important outcome is that the occurrence characteristics of these MSTIDs and that of atmospheric gravity wave (AGW) activities in the thermosphere are found to be similar on day‐to‐day basis. This suggests a possible connection between them, confirming the widely accepted AGW forcing mechanism for the generation of these daytime MSTIDs. The source of this AGW is investigated using the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system (GOES) and Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate satellite data. Finally, we provided evidences that AGWs are generated by convection activities from the tropospheric region.

Bayesian-based subpixel brightness temperature estimation from multichannel infrared GOES radiometer data

In this paper, a new image reconstruction scheme is devised for estimating a high-resolution temperature map of the top of the Earth's atmosphere using the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) imager infrared channels 4 and 5. By simultaneously interpolating the image while estimating temperature, the proposed algorithm achieves a more accurate estimate of the subpixel temperatures than could be obtained by performing these operations independently of one another. The proposed algorithm differs from other Bayesian-based image interpolation schemes in that it estimates brightness temperature as opposed to image intensity and incorporates a detailed optical model of the GOES multichannel imaging system. In order to test the effectiveness of the proposed technique, high-resolution estimates of cloudtop temperatures using GOES channels 4 and 5 are compared to temperature estimates obtained from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). This test is achieved by examining sets of infrared data taken simultaneously by the GOES and AVHRR systems over the same geographic area. The AVHRR system collects longwave infrared data with a spatial resolution of 1 km, which is higher than the 4-km spatial resolution the GOES system achieves. In some cases, The estimated temperature differences between these systems are as high as 11.5 K. It is shown in this paper that the proposed algorithm improves the consistency between the cloudtop temperatures estimated with the GOES and AVHRR systems by allowing the GOES system to achieve substantially higher spatial resolution.

Geostationary operational environmental satellite system performance

The United States supported the First GARP Global Experiment (FGGE) by the use of three geostationary satellites: GOES-East, located at 75°W longitude, GOES-West at 135°W longitude, and, through a special cooperative effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the European Space Agency, GOES-Indian Ocean at 58°E longitude. During the FGGE Operational Year, the GOES-East coverage was provided, in turn, by GOES-2, SMS-1, and SMS-2. The GOES-West coverage was provided by GOES-3, and GOES-1 served at the GOES-Indian Ocean location. Satellite and instrument performance was generally satisfactory during that period except for the loss of infrared data from the Indian Ocean GOES for an aggregate of 31 days due to intermittent operation of the sensor. From the GOES-East and GOES-West data, the National Environmental Satellite Service produced cloud motion vectors for 0000, 1200, and 1800 GMT daily, numbering in total about 1400 vectors per day. High resolution wind vectors at the rate of somewhat under 3000 daily were derived from the data from all three satellites in the tropical zone bounded by 15°N and 15°S latitude by the University of Wisconsin. In addition to their contributions to the FGGE research data sets, these three satellites provided other real-time benefits and services.