Savoie, M. H. | Search NASA

NASA NTRS2013

A Long-Term and Reproducible Passive Microwave Sea Ice Concentration Data Record for Climate Studies and Monitoring

A long-term, consistent, and reproducible satellite-based passive microwave sea ice concentration climate data record (CDR) is available for climate studies, monitoring, and model validation with an initial operation capability (IOC). The daily and monthly sea ice concentration data are on the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) polar stereographic grid with nominal 25 km × 25 km grid cells in both the Southern and Northern Hemisphere polar regions from 9 July 1987 to 31 December 2007. The data files are available in the NetCDF data format at http://nsidc.org/data/g02202.html and archived by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the satellite climate data record program (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdr/operationalcdrs.html). The description and basic characteristics of the NOAA/NSIDC passive microwave sea ice concentration CDR are presented here. The CDR provides similar spatial and temporal variability as the heritage products to the user communities with the additional documentation, traceability, and reproducibility that meet current standards and guidelines for climate data records. The data set, along with detailed data processing steps and error source information, can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.7265/N5B56GN3.

monitoring↗

NASA NTRS2006

Stable Targets for Spaceborne Microwave Radiometer Calibration

Beginning in the 1970s, continuous observations of the Earth have been made by spaceborne microwave radiometers. Since these instruments have different observational characteristics, care must be taken in combining their data to form consistent long term records of brightness temperatures and derived geophysical quantities. To be useful for climate studies, data from different instruments must be calibrated relative to each other and to reference targets on the ground whose characteristics are stable and can be monitored continuously. Identifying such targets over land is not straightforward due to the heterogeneity and complexity of the land surface and cover. In this work, we provide an analysis of multi-sensor brightness temperature statistics over ocean, tropical forest, and ice sheet locations, spanning the period from 1978 to the present, and indicate the potential of these sites as continuous calibration monitoring targets.

microwave radiometers↗