Data Validation of the NASA Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) Pathfinder Microwave Radiometer

Le résumé fourni par la source

Launched in June 2021, the TROPICS Pathfinder CubeSat has a microwave radiometer payload sensitive to the frequencies for observing precipitation, humidity, temperature, and cloud ice. The observed brightness temperatures must be compared to a data set of ‘known’ quality to validate the measured data across all channels of the microwave radiometer. This research explores validating TROPICS Pathfinder data against reanalysis data to determine the quality of the provisional TROPICS Pathfinder data product, with an eye for the future of comparing against other microwave radiometer measurements. Validation involves comparing Pathfinder data to ERA5 reanalysis data by using the Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM) to calculate simulated radiances. The simulated radiances are then compared to the on-orbit Pathfinder data to determine biases, in a method known as single-differencing. The Pathfinder data presented here is at the provisional data maturity level and should be considered preliminary. This effort will be repeated when the TROPICS Pathfinder Level-1 radiances reach the validated data product maturity level late in the summer of 2022.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.