Weather applications

AIRS data are widely used in weather forecasting, with AIRS radiance data being assimilated routinely at virtually all the operational weather prediction centers around the world. AIRS data is also used in the major climate reanalysis projects such as GMAO’s MERRA and ECMWF’s ERA. ECMWF was the first center to employ operational use of AIRS data and found the impact on operational forecasts of assimilating AIRS and IASI data to only lag the collective impact of assimilating four AMSU units (e.g., Cardinali and Healy 2012). The major global NWP centers in the U.S. – NOAA’s NCEP, and NASA’s GMAO, as well as the U.S. Navy – have also seen notable improvements when assimilating AIRS radiances into their operational forecast systems (e.g., Baker et al. 2012); A WMO Workshop concluded that AIRS is one of the highest-ranked contributors to forecast skill (WMO 2012). AIRS is used directly for decision making associated with weather events by federal (NOAA/NWS) and state agencies for CONUS severe storms, tropical cyclones, atmospheric turbulence, and atmospheric rivers. AIRS has also been integrated into the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System as described below.

AIRS observations in the NOAA/NWS Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS)

NASA’s Aqua AIRS satellite sounding retrievals were made available in near-real time for weather applications as a result of a collaboration between NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Science and Technology Corporation, the University of Wisconsin Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), and the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center at Marshall Space Flight Center.

A prototype system to process, format, and disseminate AIRS for display within the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) was developed to support use by the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS). The NWS manages the nation’s weather, water, and climate data, along with forecasts and warnings. AWIPS is the cornerstone system that forecasters use daily to analyze meteorological data to make accurate weather predictions and dispense rapid warnings. It is used at 122 Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs), 13 River Forecast Centers (RFCs) and 7 Regional Headquarters across the country.

The JPL, STC, SSEC, and SPoRT team adapted science code to enable real-time processing of AIRS/AMSU observations through the NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS). NUCAPS is currently used to operationally deliver sounding retrievals from two major polar-orbiting satellite families, NOAA’s JPSS series and EUMETSAT’s Metop series, to the NWS. The NOAA operational algorithm is based on the heritage AIRS science team algorithm and enables rapid processing and delivery of observations within 1 hour of the Aqua overpass by leveraging observations downlinked at the SSEC direct broadcast station.

Deployment of this prototype science-to-applications system can enable the use of NUCAPS Aqua within NWS operations directly within AWIPS, which requires low latency observations to support pre-convective forecasting. The addition of NUCAPS Aqua to experimental near real-time pathways alongside NUCAPS soundings from the NASA/NOAA NOAA-20 satellite, has been demonstrated to increase the spatial and temporal resolution of satellite soundings available for weather forecasting and analysis.

The results of this project are described in the following publication:

Berndt, E. B., Smith, N., & Barnet, C. D. (2023). Integrating NASA Aqua AIRS in a Real‐Time NUCAPS Science‐To‐Applications System to Support Severe Weather Forecasting. Earth and Space Science, 10(5), e2022EA002725.