The application of hyper spectral radiometric data to climate research requires very high absolute radiometric accuracy and stability. We use cloud-free tropical ocean data from the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) Calibration Data Subset (ADCS) to show that the radiometric precision and stability required for climate applications has been achieved. The sea surface skin temperatures derived from the AIRS 2616cm-1 super window channel are stable relative to the RTG.SST at the better than 8 mK/year level, and the spectral calibration is stable at the 1 ppm/year level. The excellent stability and accuracy are the result of the implementation of AIRS as a grating array spectrometer, which is cooled and stabilized within 10 mK at 155 K. Analysis of daily measurements of the temperature gradient between the surface and 7 km altitude show that the AIRS Calibration Data Subset has applications which extend its original intent for calibration support to climate research. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the EOS Aqua satellite was launched into polar orbit in May 2002. AIRS covers the spectral region from 640 to 2700 cm-1 with 2378 independent channels and represents the first of a new generation of hyper spectral resolution sounders in support of global sounding data for weather forecasting and climate research.

Date Published: 4 November 2004
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 5570, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites VIII, (4 November 2004); doi: 10.1117/12.565712

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5570:
Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites VIII
Roland Meynart; Steven P. Neeck; Haruhisa Shimoda, Editor(s)