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Sun Wong

Publications and source records attributed to Sun Wong.

Newly Available Single Field-of-view Sounder Atmospheric Product (SiFSAP) and Its Derivative Product

The Single Field-of-view Sounder Atmospheric product (SiFSAP) has been developed and delivered to NASA GES DISC. The SiFSAP Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents (ATBD) and users manuals are ready to be released to public. This novel data product supplements other operational products such as AIRS version 7 and the Community Long-term Infrared Microwave Combined Atmospheric Product System (CLIMCAPS) from two main perspectives: 1) improving the spatial resolution of sounder Level-2 data to extend its usage in weather and dynamics focus area; 2) establishing radiance closure between Level-2 data and directly measured Level-1 radiances to facilitate the climate trend analysis. SiFSAP has 3-times higher spatial resolution and 9-times denser data products comparing to current NASA and NOAA operational IR sounder products. SiFSAP is derived using the optimal estimation method based physical retrieval algorithm. The Principal Component-based Radiative Transfer Model (PCRTM) which includes the cloud scattering simulation is used for the forward model so that the solution can fit the spectral radiances under all-sky conditions for individual single field-of-view (SFOV) measurements. A general introduction of the SiFSAP algorithm and corresponding validation work will be presented. Also introduced here is the Climate Fingerprinting Sounder product (ClimFiSP) that is the derivative product of SiFSAP and will be released in the near future. The ClimFiSP algorithm uses pre-constructed fingerprinting relationship to achieve a low-latency Level-3 data production and facilitate the fusion of data of different sounders.

Wan Wu↗

Pushing the Application Limit of Hyperspectral IR Sounder Remote Sensing for Frontiers of Weather and Climate Studies

Since the launch of AQUA Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) in 2002, space-borne hyperspectral infrared (IR) sounders have provided information-rich, climate quality, and time-continuous spectral radiance measurements at the top of the atmosphere for more than two decades. Satellite based hyperspectral IR sensors, including AIRS, Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), have demonstrated their critical roles for various weather applications and climate related studies. New use of hyperspectral IR sounder data will focus on underexplored areas. Current use of those data is generally limited by the capability of fully exploring and exploiting high spectral resolution information content, achieving radiometric accuracy and stability defined by the instruments, and merging data from different sensors to build a consistent, long-term climate data record. We will present the on-going research efforts at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) to develop novel hyperspectral IR sounder data products to address those potentials yet to be fully realized. Some applications of these products, including the study of Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL), the construction of climate data record over polar region, and the fusion of AIRS and CrIS data via the radiometric consistent climate fingerprinting method will be discussed.

Wan Wu↗

Hyperspectral Sounder Spectral Fingerprinting: Using Machine Learning Techniques to Enhance Model-Based Physical Inversion

Different retrieval algorithms have been developed to process top-of-atmosphere (TOA) spectral radiance data provided by hyperspectral infrared sounder missions. Those algorithms are either optimal estimation method (OEM) based schemes with radiative transfer calculation involved in the retrieval process, or machine learning based methods that allow ultra-efficient data procession but lack of radiometric consistency validation based on the directly measured information. Combining both approaches leverages their respective technical advantages, leading to more accurate results. This study introduces a hyperspectral sounder fingerprinting algorithm to explore this hybrid approach. This approach involves the use of a spectral information-based classification method to identify an reference geophysical state and the corresponding radiative kernel. This enables the efficient retrieval of geophysical variables of interest through a radiative kernel-based linear inversion procedure. The fingerprinting method has been applied to analyze a decade-long hyperspectral sounder data record.

Wan Wu↗

Explore Information Content Efficiently from Current and Future Hyperspectral Satellite Missions using a Spectral Fingerprinting Method

Hyperspectral remote sensors from current and future missions provide measurements of the Top of Atmosphere (TOA) radiance or reflectance spectra with high information content. For example, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), together with the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) have provided more than 20 years radiance measurements with thousands of spectral channels. These measurements will be continued for the next two decades with the same or more advanced hyperspectral sensors. The upcoming missions such as NASA’s CLARREO Pathfinder (CPF) and ESA’s TRUTHS will provide unprecedented accurate TOA hyperspectral radiance measurements in solar spectral region. Traditional ways to derive Climate Data Records (CDRs) from these measurements are performing spatial and temporal averages of the retrieved Level-2 products. However, it is a time-consuming process to generate decades of Level-2 data from Level-1 data. Furthermore, the differences in Level-2 algorithms used for different satellite sensors will introduce errors in derived CDRs. In this presentation, we will describe a spectral fingerprinting method to generate high-quality CDRs directly from spatiotemporally averaged Level-1 data. By using consistent radiative kernels which contain the spectral information of various atmospheric and surface CDRs, we can reduce the errors due to algorithm inconsistency. Additionally, the spectral fingerprinting method reduces the time needed to generate CDRs by more than three orders of magnitude. This makes it easy to reprocess CDRs once the Level-1 data from different satellites have been improved via either re-calibrations or inter-satellite calibrations. We will present results of applying spectral fingerprinting method to 20-years of AIRS and CrIS data. The resulting CDRs include: 1) vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature and water vapor, 2) cloud properties such as optical depth, effective size, and height, 3) vertical profiles or column amounts for atmospheric trace gases such as O3 and CO, and 4) surface emissivity spectra and skin temperatures. These CDRs will be publicly available at NASA GES DISC in late 2024. The same fingerprinting method is planned to be applied to future CPF and TRUTHS data for solar spectral region.

hyperspectral remote sensing↗