Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Variable
In situ
Remote sensing
Product
Status
Clouds
Radiosondes,
meteorological surface
networks
Meteorological geostationary satellites, e.g.,
Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) Spinning
Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager
(SEVIRI), complemented by lower orbiting
satellites (CloudSat, Calipso)
Cloud mask, cloud classification,
cloud optical depth, liquid and
ice water path, cloud top
temperature and infrared
emissivity
High spatiotemporal retrievals from SEVIRI
provide powerful means to analyse model
performance, in particular, the diurnal cycle
New observations from CloudSat and Calipso
provide powerful tools to validate other
instruments series and also improve model
parameterizations
However, major efforts are needed to make
cloud Climate Data Records (CDRs) fit for
climate trend analysis
Upcoming sensors include EarthCARE at
0.5 km resolution
Water vapour
Radiosondes,
meteorological surface
networks
A variety of space-borne sensors are used to
retrieve atmospheric profiles of humidity or
the column amount (microwave, infrared,
optical, UV)
Atmospheric profiles of humidity
or the column amount
SSM/I total column water vapour over ocean is
mature for climate analysis
MERIS observations have a significant potential
for high spatial resolution total column water
vapour over land during daytime in clear sky,
e.g., ESA DUE GlobVapour.
UV/VIS instruments provide independent
means for total column water vapour
retrievals but these measurements are biased
towards clear sky
Upper Tropospheric Humidity (UTH) data sets
provide a data source with high value for
climate research
Microwave sounding data sets from AMSU-B,
MHS and SSM/T2 hold a great potential to
improve our knowledge on UTH—also
allowing estimates of absolute humidity.
The availability of atmospheric temperature and
humidity profiles for 30 and more years is a
critical issue
The GEWEX Radiation Panel plans to carry out
an intercomparison exercise
