Engineering topics

Loeb, Norman

Publications and source records attributed to Loeb, Norman.

5 records

NASA NTRS2015

Consistency of CERES Radiances and Fluxes from Aqua and Suomi-NPP

The Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instruments on board Terra, Aqua, and Suomi-NPP have been providing data products critical to advancing our understanding of the effects of clouds and aerosols on radiative energy within the Earth-atmosphere system. The CERES instrument consists of a threechannel broadband scanning radiometer. The scanning radiometer measures radiances in shortwave (SW, 0.3-5 micron), window (WN, 8-12 micron), and total (0.3-200 micron) channels. The longwave (LW) component is derived as the difference between total and SW channels. These measured radiances at a given sun-Earthsatellite geometry are converted to outgoing reflected solar and emitted thermal TOA radiative fluxes by using CERES scene-type dependent angular distribution models (ADMs). The CERES instruments must remain radiometrically stable and correctly inter-calibrated to accurately capture changes in Earth"s radiation budget from interannual to decadal timescales. This presentation will focus on comparisons between collocated radiance measurements from CERES instruments on Aqua and on Suomi-NPP. As we do not have a set of ADMs that is constructed specifically for the CERES instrument on Suomi-NPP, CERES Aqua ADMs are used to invert fluxes from radiance measurements on Suomi-NPP. But the CERES Aqua footprint size is smaller than the CERES Suomi-NPP footprint size and the scene identifications provided by MODIS and VIIRS can also be different from each other. Will using Aqua ADMs for Suomi-NPP flux inversion increase the flux uncertainty? We will examine the deseasonalized flux anomaly time series using Aqua data alone and using combined Aqua and Suomi-NPP data. We will also present a simulation study to assess the Suomi-NPP flux uncertainty from using Aqua ADMs for the flux inversion.

Su, Wenying↗

NASA NTRS2015

Comparison of OLR Data Sets from AIRS, CERES and MERRA 2

Organizers of the NASA Sounder Science Team Meeting would like to post the presentations to a the JPL Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) publicly-available website. The meeting was held in Greenbelt, Maryland, October 13-16, 2015.

remote sensing↗

NASA NTRS2014

A Two-Habit Ice Cloud Optical Property Parameterization for GCM Application

We present a novel ice cloud optical property parameterization based on a two-habit ice cloud model that has been proved to be optimal for remote sensing applications. The two-habit ice model is developed with state-of-the-art numerical methods for light scattering property calculations involving individual columns and column aggregates with the habit fractions constrained by in-situ measurements from various field campaigns. Band-averaged bulk ice cloud optical properties including the single-scattering albedo, the mass extinction/absorption coefficients, and the asymmetry factor are parameterized as functions of the effective particle diameter for the spectral bands involved in the broadband radiative transfer models. Compared with other parameterization schemes, the two-habit scheme generally has lower asymmetry factor values (around 0.75 at the visible wavelengths). The two-habit parameterization scheme was widely tested with the broadband radiative transfer models (i.e. Rapid Radiative Transfer Model, GCM version) and global circulation models (GCMs, i.e. Community Atmosphere Model, version 5). Global ice cloud radiative effects at the top of the atmosphere are also analyzed from the GCM simulation using the two-habit parameterization scheme in comparison with CERES satellite observations.

Yi, Bingqi↗

NASA NTRS2014

Assessment of NASA GISS CMIP5 and Post-CMIP5 Simulated Clouds and TOA Radiation Budgets Using Satellite Observations: TOA Radiation Budget and CREs - Part 2

In Part I of this study, the NASA GISS Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) and post-CMIP5 (herein called C5 and P5, respectively) simulated cloud properties were assessed utilizing multiple satellite observations, with a particular focus on the southern midlatitudes (SMLs). This study applies the knowledge gained from Part I of this series to evaluate the modeled TOA radiation budgets and cloud radiative effects (CREs) globally using CERES EBAF (CE) satellite observations and the impact of regional cloud properties and water vapor on the TOA radiation budgets. Comparisons revealed that the P5- and C5-simulated global means of clear-sky and all-sky outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) match well with CE observations, while biases are observed regionally. Negative biases are found in both P5- and C5-simulated clear-sky OLR. P5-simulated all-sky albedo slightly increased over the SMLs due to the increase in low-level cloud fraction from the new planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme. Shortwave, longwave, and net CRE are quantitatively analyzed as well. Regions of strong large-scale atmospheric upwelling/downwelling motion are also defined to compare regional differences across multiple cloud and radiative variables. In general, the P5 and C5 simulations agree with the observations better over the downwelling regime than over the upwelling regime. Comparing the results herein with the cloud property comparisons presented in Part I, the modeled TOA radiation budgets and CREs agree well with the CE observations. These results, combined with results in Part I, have quantitatively estimated how much improvement is found in the P5-simulated cloud and radiative properties, particularly over the SMLs and tropics, due to the implementation of the new PBL and convection schemes.

Model comparison↗

NASA NTRS2004

Two MODIS Aerosol Products Over Ocean on the Terra and Aqua CERES SSF Datasets

Over ocean, two aerosol products are reported on the Terra and Aqua CERES SSFs. Both are derived from MODIS, but using different sampling and aerosol algorithms. This study briefly summarizes these products, and compares using 2 weeks of global Terra data from 15-21 December 2000, and 1-7 June 2001.

Ignatov, Alexander↗