HR: 08:53h
AN: A31C-03 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: Recent Practical Applications of Radiative Transfer in Satellite Remote Sensing
AU: * Minnis, P
EM: patrick.minnis-1@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley Research Center, MS 420, Hampton, VA 23681, United States
AU: Nguyen, L
EM: louis.nguyen-1@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley Research Center, MS 420, Hampton, VA 23681, United States
AU: Smith, W L
EM: william.l.smith@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley Research Center, MS 420, Hampton, VA 23681, United States
AU: Murray, J J
EM: john.j.murray@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley Research Center, MS 420, Hampton, VA 23681, United States
AU: Ayers, J K
EM: jeffrey.k.ayers@nasa.gov
AF: SSAI, 1 Enterprise Pkwy, Hampton, VA 23666, United States
AU: Khaiyer, M M
EM: mandana.m.khaiyer@nasa.gov
AF: SSAI, 1 Enterprise Pkwy, Hampton, VA 23666, United States
AU: Palikondra, R
EM: rabindra.palikondra-1@nasa.gov
AF: SSAI, 1 Enterprise Pkwy, Hampton, VA 23666, United States
AU: Spangenberg, D A
EM: douglas.a.spangenberg@nasa.gov
AF: SSAI, 1 Enterprise Pkwy, Hampton, VA 23666, United States
AU: Chang, F
EM: fu-lung.chang-1@nasa.gov
AF: National Institute of Aerospace, 100 Exploration Way, Hampton, VA 23666, United States
AB: Remote sensing of the atmosphere is highly dependent on the use of radiative transfer (RT) calculations by employing either basic detailed models or highly parameterized versions of results from those models. Although many of the physical parameters retrieved from passive satellite radiances, such as atmospheric soundings, have long had direct application in weather and climate studies, the continued development of new uses for RT in deriving new and enhanced parameters often goes unnoticed. This paper explores recent developments in satellite remote sensing that have direct application to problems related to air safety. Aircraft icing is one of the leading causes for air traffic accidents and its occurrence and impact can be minimized by identifying when and where icing conditions are likely to occur. Since icing requires the presence of supercooled water clouds and, often, large water droplets, icing conditions can be deduced from retrievals of cloud phase, optical depth, and effective droplet size. RT parameterizations have been used for many years to retrieve those parameters, but it has only been possible in recent years to determine them in near-real time so that they can be practically used to help warn air traffic about the probability of icing at a given location. Because air traffic is continuous over the course of the day, geostationary satellite data are the suitable means for monitoring aircraft icing conditions. Icing clouds also occur underneath upper-level cirrus clouds and can go undetected using traditional retrieval methods. By using a set of new two-layer cloud model parameterizations together with recently developed multilayered cloud detection techniques, it is possible to evaluate the low-level clouds in multilayered cloud conditions. These techniques and examples of their application using data from the Twelfth Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-12) in the NASA Langley Real-Time Cloud Analysis System will be presented along with validation of the retrieved results. Outstanding problems and future applications will be discussed.
UR: http://www- angler.larc.nasa.gov/satimage/products.html
DE: 0319 Cloud optics
DE: 0320 Cloud physics and chemistry
DE: 3310 Clouds and cloud feedbacks
DE: 3311 Clouds and aerosols
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting