Fast radiative-transfer model based on the correlated k-distribution method for a high-resolution satellite sounder

A fast radiative-transfer model for the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) was developed by use of a correlated k-distribution method. Transmittances produced by the correlated k-distribution method are systematically displaced from those produced by a line-by-line method, and empirical correction is possible. A fast radiative model that includes this empirical correction has exhibited practical performance in tests of transmittance and brightness temperature that used an independent set of atmospheric profiles.     

Efficient vector radiative transfer calculations in vertically inhomogeneous cloudy atmospheres

Accurate radiative transfer calculations in cloudy atmospheres are generally time consuming, limiting their practical use in satellite remote sensing applications. We present a model to efficiently calculate the radiative transfer of polarized light in atmospheres that contain homogeneous cloud layers. This model combines the Gauss-Seidel method, which is efficient for inhomogeneous cloudless atmospheres, with the doubling method, which is efficient for homogeneous cloud layers. Additionally to reduce the computational effort for radiative transfer calculations in absorption bands, the cloud reflection and transmission matrices are interpolated over the absorption and scattering optical thicknesses within the cloud layer. We demonstrate that the proposed radiative transfer model in combination with this interpolation technique is efficient for the simulation of satellite measurements for inhomogeneous atmospheres containing one homogeneous cloud layer. For example, the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY) measurements in the oxygen A band (758-773 nm) and the Hartley-Huggins ozone band (295-335 nm) with a spectral resolution of 0.4 nm can be simulated for these atmospheres within 1 min on a 2.8 GHz PC with an accuracy better than 0.1%.     

Retrieval of CO from nadir remote-sensing measurements in the infrared by use of four different inversion algorithms

Four inversion schemes based on various retrieval approaches (digital gas correlation, nonlinear least squares, global fit adjustment, and neural networks) developed to retrieve CO from nadir radiances measured by such downward-looking satelliteborne instruments as the Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT), the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) instruments were compared both for simulated cases and for atmospheric spectra recorded by the Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases (IMG). The sensitivity of the retrieved CO total column amount to properties that may affect the inversion accuracy (noise, ancillary temperature profile, and water-vapor content) was investigated. The CO column amounts for the simulated radiance spectra agreed within 4%, whereas larger discrepancies were obtained when atmospheric spectra recorded by the IMG instrument were analyzed. The assumed vertical temperature profile is shown to be a critical parameter for accurate CO retrieval. The instrument's line shape was also identified as a possible cause of disagreement among the result provided by the groups of scientist who are participating in this study.     

Systematic Errors that are Due to the Monochromatic-Equivalent Radiative Transfer Approximation in Thermal Emission Problems

An underlying assumption of data assimilation models is that the radiative transfer model used by them can simulate observed radiances with zero bias and small error. For practical reasons a fast parameterized radiative transfer model is used instead of a highly accurate line-by-line model. These fast models usually replace the spectral integration of the product of the transmittance and the Planck function with a monochromatic equivalent, namely, the product of a spectrally averaged transmittance and a spectrally averaged Planck function. The error of using this equivalent form is commonly assumed to be negligible. However, this error is not necessarily negligible and introduces a systematic height-dependent bias to the assimilation scheme. Although the bias could be corrected by a separate bias correction scheme, it is more effective to correct its source, the fast radiative transfer model. I examine the magnitude of error when the monochromatic-equivalent approach is used and demonstrate how a fast parameterized radiative model with Planck-weighted mean transmittances can effectively reduce if not eliminate these errors at source. I focus on channel 12 of the High-Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder onboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-14 satellite that, among all the channels of this instrument, displays the largest error.     

Atmospheric transmittance of an absorbing gas. 7. Further improvements to the OPTRAN 6 approach

We present recent improvements in accuracy to the fast transmittance-calculation procedure, Optical Path Transmittance (OPTRAN), which is used for satellite data assimilation at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These improvements are (1) to change the absorber space used for ozone, (2) to add new predictors for each gas, and (3) to treat the water vapor line absorption and water continuum absorption as separate terms. Significant improvements in the accuracy of the OPTRAN algorithm for High-Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounders (HIRS) and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) are demonstrated. The results that we show here extend a recent paper of Xiong and McMillin (2004) that describes the use of a polychromatic correction term to replace the effective transmittance concept to include additional changes that improve accuracy.     

Thermodynamic product retrieval methodology and validation for NAST-I

The National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Airborne Sounder Testbed (NAST) consists of two passive collocated cross-track scanning instruments, an infrared interferometer (NAST-I) and a microwave radiometer (NAST-M), that fly onboard high-altitude aircraft such as the NASA ER-2 at an altitude near 20 km. NAST-I provides relatively high spectral resolution (0.25-cm(-1)) measurements in the 645-2700-cm(-1) spectral region with moderate spatial resolution (a linear resolution equal to 13% of the aircraft altitude at nadir) cross-track scanning. We report the methodology for retrieval of atmospheric temperature and composition profiles from NAST-I radiance spectra. The profiles were determined by use of a statistical eigenvector regression algorithm and improved, as needed, by use of a nonlinear physical retrieval algorithm. Several field campaigns conducted under varied meteorological conditions have provided the data needed to verify the accuracy of the spectral radiance, the retrieval algorithm, and the scanning capabilities of this instrumentation. Retrieval examples are presented to demonstrate the ability to reveal fine-scale horizontal features with relatively high vertical resolution.     

Direct estimate of methane radiative forcing by use of nadir spectral radiances

Direct determination of the radiative forcing of trace gases will be made possible by use of the next generation of nadir-looking spaceborne instruments that provide measurements of atmospheric radiances in the infrared spectral range with improved spectral and spatial resolution. An inversion statistical method has thus been developed and applied to the direct determination of the radiative forcing of methane, based on such instruments as the Fourier-transform Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases launched onboard the Japanese Advanced Earth Observing Satellite in 1996 and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer planned for the European polar platform Meteorological Operational Satellite in 2000. The method is based on simple statistical laws that directly relate the measured radiances to the radiative forcing by use of an a priori selection of appropriate spectral intervals and global modeling of methane spatial variations. This procedure avoids the use of an indirect determination based on an inversion process that requires precise knowledge of the methane vertical profiles throughout the troposphere. The overall accuracy and precision of this new algorithm are studied, and interfering gases and instrumental characteristics are taken into account. It is shown that radiative forcing can be determined at high horizontal spatial resolution with a precision better than 7% in cloud-free conditions and with well-known surface properties.     

Fast transmittance model for satellite sounding

Through the use of new line-by-line spectral calculations in both the infrared and microwave regions, coefficients have been generated for the transmittance stage of the fast radiative transfer model used by the United Kingdom Meteorological Office. These permit the fast model to calculate the transmittance for the high-resolution infrared sounder and the microwave sounding unit instruments aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration polar-orbiting satellite for a given atmospheric profile, simply by taking these coefficients in linear combination with a set of predictors. These are expressed in terms of the deviation of the profile from a reference. However, the method can be applied to any instrument within the range of the spectral calculations, thereby permitting new coefficients to be calculated as soon as the spectral response details for the instrument become available. It also permits effective consideration to be given in the longer term to new line data or improvements in line-shape theory. The process by which these coefficients have been obtained is described, along with a discussion of some of the tests carried out on their installation into the fast model; these tests show that they are suitable for operational use. The predictors employed by the fast model are discussed, and changes are proposed for those that relate to the water-vapor transmittance. In this respect it was found that the inclusion of predictors that depend primarily on the zenith angle of the radiation path leads to improvements in the transmittance calculation.     

Comparison of linear forms of the radiative transfer equation with analytic Jacobians

Determining the Jacobians of the radiative transfer equation (RTE) is important to the qualities of the simultaneous retrieval of geophysical parameters from satellite radiance observations and the assimilation of radiance data into a numerical weather prediction system. Two linear forms of the RTE with analytic Jacobians are formulated. The first linear form has approximate analytic Jacobians, which involves some monochromatic approximation applied to a fast transmittance model. Unlike previous research, which lacks the transmittance Jacobian with respect to the atmospheric temperature profile, this form is complete in the sense that the transmittance Jacobians with respect to atmospheric temperature and absorbing constituent profiles are both present. The second linear form has exact analytic Jacobians derived consistently from the same fast transmittance model without using any monochromatic approximation. By numerical comparison between the two linear forms for the NOAA-12 High-Resolution Infrared Sounder, we show significant errors in the linear form with approximate analytic Jacobians. The relative absolute linearization error from the linear form with approximate analytic Jacobians is shown to be 2-4 orders of magnitude larger than that from the linear form with exact analytic Jacobians, even for the case of a 0.1% perturbation of the U.S. Standard Atmosphere. The errors unnecessarily complicate the ill-posed retrieval problem of atmospheric remote sensing and can be avoided if the correct linear form of the RTE with exact analytic Jacobians is adopted.     

Undersampling correction for array detector-based satellite spectrometers

Array detector-based instruments are now fundamental to measurements of ozone and other atmospheric trace gases from space in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared. The present generation of such instruments suffers, to a greater or lesser degree, from undersampling of the spectra, leading to difficulties in the analysis of atmospheric radiances. We provide extended analysis of the undersampling suffered by modern satellite spectrometers, which include the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment, Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography, Ozone Monitoring Instrument, and Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite. The analysis includes basic undersampling, the effects of binning into separate detector pixels, and the application of high-resolution Fraunhofer spectral data to correct for undersampling in many useful cases.     

Fast radiative transfer model for simulation of infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer radiances

A fast radiative transfer model has been developed for prelaunch simulation studies of Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) data and for the exploitation of IASI radiances within the framework of a numerical weather prediction variational analysis scheme. The model uses profile-dependent predictors to parameterize the atmospheric optical depths and is fast enough to cope with the processing of observations in near real time and with the several thousands of transmittance calculations required to simulate radiances from a full range of atmospheric conditions. The development of the model has involved the selection of a training set of atmospheric profiles, the production of a line-by-line transmittance database, the selection of optimal predictors for the gases considered in the study, and the production of regression coefficients for the fast transmittance scheme. The model fit to the line-by-line radiances shows that it can reproduce the line-by-line radiances to a degree of accuracy that is at or below the instrumental noise.     

Radiative transfer solution for rugged and heterogeneous scene observations

A physical algorithm is developed to solve the radiative transfer problem in the solar reflective spectral domain. This new code, Advanced Modeling of the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer for Inhomogeneous Surfaces (AMARTIS), takes into account the relief, the spatial heterogeneity, and the bidirectional reflectances of ground surfaces. The resolution method consists of first identifying the irradiance and radiance components at ground and sensor levels and then modeling these components separately, the rationale being to find the optimal trade off between accuracy and computation times. The validity of the various assumptions introduced in the AMARTIS model are checked through comparisons with a reference Monte Carlo radiative transfer code for various ground scenes: flat ground with two surface types, a linear sand dune landscape, and an extreme mountainous configuration. The results show a divergence of less than 2% between the AMARTIS code and the Monte Carlo reference code for the total signals received at satellite level. In particular, it is demonstrated that the environmental and topographic effects are properly assessed by the AMARTIS model even for situations in which the effects become dominant.     

Radiances simulated in the presence of clouds by use of a fast radiative transfer model and a multiple-scattering scheme

A fast-forward radiative transfer (RTF) model is presented that includes cloud-radiation interaction for any number of cloud layers. Layer cloud fraction and transmittance are treated separately and combined with that of gaseous transmittances. RTF is tested against a reference procedure that uses line-by-line gaseous transmittances and solves the radiative transfer equation by use of the adding-doubling method to handle multiple-scattering conditions properly. The comparison is carried out for channels 8, 12, and 14 of the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS/2) and for the geostationary satellite METEOSAT thermal infrared and water vapor channels. Fairly large differences in simulated radiances by the two schemes are found in clear conditions for upper- and mid-tropospheric channels; the cause of the differences is discussed. For cloudy situations an improved layer source function is shown to be required when rapid changes in atmospheric transmission are experienced within the model layers. The roles of scattering processes are discussed; results with and without scattering, both obtained by use of a reference code, are compared. Overall, the presented results show that the fast model is capable of reproducing the cloudy results of the much more complex and time-consuming reference scheme.     

Validation of the Infrared Emittance Characterization of Materials Through Intercomparison of Direct and Indirect Methods

A comparison of the spectral directional emittance of samples as a function of wavelength was performed at the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometry (FTIS) and the Advanced Infrared Radiometry and Imaging (AIRI) facilities at NIST. At the FTIS, the emittance is obtained indirectly through the measurement of near-normal directional-hemispherical reflectance (DHR) using an infrared integrating sphere. At the AIRI, the normal directional emittance is obtained directly through the measurement of the sample spectral radiance referenced to that from blackbody sources, while the sample is located behind a black plate of known temperature and emittance. On the same setup at the AIRI, the normal emittance at near ambient temperatures is also measured indirectly by a “two-temperature” method in which the sample spectral radiance is measured while the background temperature is controlled and varied. The sample emittance measurements on the comparison samples are presented over a wavelength range of 3.4 μm to 13.5 μm at several near-ambient temperatures and for near-normal incidence. The results obtained validate the two independent capabilities and demonstrate the potential of the controlled background methods for measurements of the radiative properties of IR materials.     

Radiative Properties of Blackbody Calibration Sources:Recent Advances in Computer Modeling

The radiative characteristics (spectral effective emissivity, spectral radiance, and radiance temperature) of blackbody calibration sources widely used in radiation thermometry are an important subject for advanced computer modeling by the Monte Carlo method. An algorithm and code for stochastic modeling of the radiant heat transfer inside cavities has been developed on the basis of the reciprocity principle and backward ray tracing. The importance sampling technique has been applied to generate the reflected rays according to the surface reflection model that can be a linear combination of the following primary models: Lambertian, Specular, and TETRA (a microfacet model of random tetrahedral pits that mimics reflections from a rough surface). A wide range of axisymmetrical cavities, cylindrical cavities with an inclined flat bottom, and a rectilinear grooved radiator of polygonal profile have been implemented. Various conditions of observation can be modeled to compute appropriate radiation characteristics. A number of different temperature distributions can be assigned to the same node set on the cavity surface, so several related tasks can be modeled in a single run. The results obtained for the radiative properties of isothermal and non-isothermal non-diffuse blackbodies used for the calibration of infrared radiation thermometers are presented and discussed.     

Generalized Eddington analytical model for azimuthally dependent radiance simulation in stratified media

A fast analytical radiative transfer model to account for propagation of unpolarized monochromatic radiation in random media with a plane-parallel geometry is presented. The model employs an Eddington-like approach combined with the delta phase-function transformation technique. The Eddington approximation is extended in a form that allows us to unfold the azimuthal dependence of the radiance field. A first-order scattering correction to the azimuth-dependent Eddington radiative model solution is also performed to improve the model accuracy for low-scattering media and flexibility with respect to use of explicit arbitrary phase functions. The first-order scattering-corrected solution, called the generalized Eddington radiative model (GERM), is systematically tested against a numerical multistream discrete ordinate model for backscattered radiance at the top of the medium. The typical mean accuracy of the GERM solution is generally better than 10% with a standard deviation of 20% for radiance calculations over a wide range of independent input optical parameters and observation angles. GERM errors are shown to be comparable with the errors due to an input parameter uncertainty of precise numerical models. The proposed model can be applied in a quite arbitrary random medium, and the results are appealing in all cases where speed, accuracy, and/or closed-form solutions are requested. Its potentials, limitations, and further extensions are discussed.     

Modification of kaolinite surfaces through mechanochemical activation with quartz: A diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform and chemometrics study

Studies of kaolinite surfaces are of industrial importance. One useful method for studying the changes in kaolinite surface properties is to apply chemometric analyses to the kaolinite surface infrared spectra. A comparison is made between the mechanochemical activation of Kiralyhegy kaolinites with significant amounts of natural quartz and the mechanochemical activation of Zettlitz kaolinite with added quartz. Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectra were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) and multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods, the preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluations (PROMETHEE) and geometrical analysis for interactive assistance (GAIA). The clear discrimination of the Kiralyhegy spectral objects on the two PC scores plots (400-800 and 800-2030 cm(-1)) indicated the dominance of quartz. Importantly, no ordering of any spectral objects appeared to be related to grinding time in the PC plots of these spectral regions. Thus, neither the kaolinite nor the quartz are systematically responsive to grinding time according to the spectral criteria investigated. The third spectral region (2600-3800 cm(-1), OH vibrations), showed apparent systematic ordering of the Kiralyhegy and, to a lesser extent, Zettlitz spectral objects with grinding time. This was attributed to the effect of the natural quartz on the delamination of kaolinite and the accompanying phenomena (i.e., formation of kaolinite spheres and water). The mechanochemical activation of kaolinite and quartz, through dry grinding, results in changes to the surface structure. Different grinding times were adopted to study the rate of destruction of the kaolinite and quartz structures. This relationship (i.e., grinding time) was classified using PROMETHEE and GAIA methodology.     

Wavelength calibration of spectra measured by the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment by use of a high-resolution reference spectrum

Earthshine spectra measured by the nadir-viewing Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) spectrometer aboard the second European Remote Sensing (ERS-2) Satellite in the range of 240-790 nm are widely used for the retrieval of concentrations and vertical profiles of atmospheric trace gases. For the near-real-time delivery of ozone columns and profiles at the Royal Netherlands Meterological Institute, a tailor-made wavelength calibration method was developed. The method use a high-resolution (0.01-nm) solar spectrum as the reference spectrum and applies both a shift and a squeeze to the wavelengths in selected windows to find the optimal wavelength grid per window. This method provides a calibration accuracy of 0.002 nm below and 0.001 nm above 290 nm. The new wavelength calibration method can be used on any wavelength window, for example, to improve the calibration of spectra from the GOME Data Processor. A software package, GomeCal, which performs this recalibration, along with an improved polarization and radiometric correction, has been made and has been released via the World Wide Web. The method can be used for any high-resolution (ir)radiance spectrometer, such as the satellite instruments SCIAMACHY (Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography), Ozone Monitoring Instrument, and GOME-2.     

Infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer correlation interferometry for the retrieval of atmospheric gases: the case of H2O and CO2

Correlation interferometry is a particular application of Fourier transform spectroscopy with partially scanned interferograms. Basically, it is a technique to obtain the difference between the spectra of atmospheric radiance at two diverse spectral resolutions. Although the technique could be exploited to design an appropriate correlation interferometer, in this paper we are concerned with the analytical aspects of the method and its application to high-spectral-resolution infrared observations in order to separate the emission of a given atmospheric gas from a spectral signal dominated by surface emission, such as in the case of satellite spectrometers operated in the nadir looking mode. The tool will be used to address some basic questions concerning the vertical spatial resolution of H2O and to develop an algorithm to retrieve the columnar amount of CO2. An application to complete interferograms from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer will be presented and discussed. For H2O, we have concluded that the vertical spatial resolution in the lower troposphere mostly depends on broad features associated with the spectrum, whereas for CO2, we have derived a technique capable of retrieving a CO2 columnar amount with accuracy of ≈±7 parts per million by volume at the level of each single field of view.     

Near-infrared spectral data transfer using independent standardization samples: a case study on the trans-alkylation process

A variety of standardization or transfer methods between near infrared spectrometric instruments are applied for the content prediction of five major constituents of the product at trans-alkylation process with spectra measured on two different instruments. Because process samples are difficult to be stored, we use independent transfer samples by blending some pure materials for the spectrum standardization of the process samples. Using the independent standardization samples, we investigate the transfer performance of well-known piecewise direct standardization combined with several regression methods on the raw spectra. Also, we propose some indirect standardization methods utilizing wavelet transferred scores or factor scores through principal component analysis and partial least squares. The standardization by transferring scores takes only a few transfer coefficients, but it shows similar performance to the spectrum transfer case. In addition, we show the possibility of using a fewer number of stable samples than the original set of samples for the standardization with similar performance.