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The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the EOS Aqua Spacecraft was launched on May 4, 2002. AIRS acquires hyperspectral infrared radiances in the 3.7–15.4 μm spectral region with spectral resolving power of better than 1200. The AIRS was designed to measure temperature and water vapor profiles and cloud properties for improvement in weather forecast and improved parameterization of climate processes. Currently a subset of AIRS Level 1B Radiance Products is assimilated by NWP centers, resulting in significant forecast improvement. Scientists have also demonstrated accurate retrievals of minor gases from AIRS including carbon monoxide, methane, and ozone. The excellent sensitivity and stability of the AIRS instrument has recently allowed the AIRS team to successfully retrieve carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations in the mid-troposphere (8–10 km) with a horizontal resolution of 100 km and accuracy better than 2 ppm. The AIRS mid-tropospheric CO 2 yield is 15,000 measurements per 24-h period over land and ocean, day and night for clear and cloudy scenes. The AIRS CO 2 accuracy has been validated against a variety of mid-tropospheric aircraft measurements as well as upward looking interferometers. Findings from the AIRS data include higher than expected variability in the mid-troposphere, the presence of a seasonally variable belt of enhanced CO 2 in the southern hemisphere, and observations of impact of atmospheric dynamics on the CO 2 concentrations in the mid-troposphere including the effects of El Nino/La Nina and the Arctic polar vortex. The full mid-tropospheric AIRS CO 2 data set is now available at the NASA GES/DISC for the 8 year time span since AIRS became operational.

This paper discusses the performance of AIRS and examines how it is meeting its operational and research objectives based on the experience of more than 2 yr with AIRS data. We describe the science background and the performance of AIRS in terms of the accuracy and stability of its observed spectral radiances. We examine the validation of the retrieved temperature and water vapor profiles against collocated operational radiosondes, and then we assess the impact thereof on numerical weather forecasting of the assimilation of the AIRS spectra and the retrieved temperature. We close the paper with a discussion on the retrieval of several minor tropospheric constituents from AIRS spectra.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), and the Humidity Sounder for Brazil (HSB) form an integrated cross-track scanning temperature and humidity sounding system on the Aqua satellite of the Earth Observing System (EOS). AIRS is an infrared spectrometer/radiometer that covers the 3.7-15.4-/spl mu/m spectral range with 2378 spectral channels. AMSU is a 15-channel microwave radiometer operating between 23 and 89 GHz. HSB is a four-channel microwave radiometer that makes measurements between 150 and 190 GHz. In addition to supporting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's interest in process study and climate research, AIRS is the first hyperspectral infrared radiometer designed to support the operational requirements for medium-range weather forecasting of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and other numerical weather forecasting centers. AIRS, together with the AMSU and HSB microwave radiometers, will achieve global retrieval accuracy of better than 1 K in the lower troposphere under clear and partly cloudy conditions. This paper presents an overview of the science objectives, AIRS/AMSU/HSB data products, retrieval algorithms, and the ground-data processing concepts. The EOS Aqua was launched on May 4, 2002 from Vandenberg AFB, CA, into a 705-km-high, sun-synchronous orbit. Based on the excellent radiometric and spectral performance demonstrated by AIRS during prelaunch testing, which has by now been verified during on-orbit testing, we expect the assimilation of AIRS data into the numerical weather forecast to result in significant forecast range and reliability improvements.

Mid-tropospheric CO_2 retrieved from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) was used to investigate CO_2 interannual variability over the Indo-Pacific region. A signal with periodicity around two years was found for the AIRS mid-tropospheric CO_2 for the first time, which is related to the Tropospheric Biennial Oscillation (TBO) associated with the strength of the monsoon. During a strong (weak) monsoon year, the Western Walker Circulation is strong (weak), resulting in enhanced (diminished) CO_2 transport from the surface to the mid-troposphere. As a result, there are positive (negative) CO2 anomalies at mid-troposphere over the Indo-Pacific region. We simulated the influence of the TBO on the mid-tropospheric CO_2 over the Indo-Pacific region using the MOZART-2 model, and results were consistent with observations, although we found the TBO signal in the model CO_2 is to be smaller than that in the AIRS observations.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Earth Observing System Aqua spacecraft was launched in May of 2002 and acquires hyperspectral infrared spectra used to generate a wide range of atmospheric products including temperature, water vapor, and trace gas species including carbon dioxide. Here we present monthly representations of global concentrations of mid-tropospheric carbon dioxide produced from 8 years of data obtained by AIRS between the years of 2003 and 2010. We define them as "representations" rather than "climatologies" to reflect that the files are produced over a relatively short time period and represent summaries of the Level 3 data. Finally, they have not yet been independently validated. The representations have a horizontal resolution of 2.0 deg x 2.5 deg (Latitude x Longitude) and faithfully reproduce the original 8 years of monthly L3 CO2 concentrations with a standard deviation of 1.48 ppm and less than 2% outliers. The representations are intended for use in studies of the global general circulation of CO2 and identification of anomalies in CO2 typically associated with atmospheric transport. The seasonal variability and trend found in the AIRS CO2 data are discussed.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the EOS Aqua Spacecraft was launched in May of 2002. The AIRS Sounding Suit, AIRS along with AMSU-A and HSB, were designed to measure the atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles, the surface and the cloud parameters for climate research and for improvement in weather forecast. Over the last 8+ years AIRS has been operating extremely stable, far surpassing original design life of 4 - 5 years. Many exciting research papers on climate have been published with AIRS data. The AIRS data are assimilated by most NWP centers and have shown considerable improvement in forecast skill. We will describe the current status of the instruments as well as the new activity on the data processing software.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the EOS Aqua Spacecraft was launched on May 4, 2002. Early in the mission, the AIRS instrument demonstrated its value to the weather forecasting community with better than 6 hours of improvement on the 5 day forecast. Now with over eight years of consistent and stable data from AIRS, scientists are able to examine processes governing weather and climate and look at seasonal and interannual trends from the AIRS data with high statistical confidence. Naturally, long-term climate trends require a longer data set, but indications are that the Aqua spacecraft and the AIRS instrument should last beyond 2018. This paper briefly describes the AIRS data products and presents some of the most significant findings involving the use of AIRS data in the areas of weather forecast improvement, climate processes and model validation, cloud and polar processes, and atmospheric composition (chemistry and dust).

Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) offers a unique opportunity to investigate the variability of mid-tropospheric CO_2 over the entire globe. In this paper, we use AIRS data to examine the interannual variability of CO_2 and find significant correlations between AIRS mid-tropospheric CO_2 and large-scale atmospheric dynamics. During El Nino events, mid-tropospheric CO_2 over the central Pacific Ocean is enhanced whereas it is reduced over the western Pacific Ocean as a result of the change in the Walker circulation. The variation of AIRS CO_2 in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere is closely related to the strength of the northern hemispheric annular mode. These results contribute to a better understanding of the influence of large-scale dynamics on tracer distributions.

Human activity has increased the concentration of the earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide, which plays a direct role in contributing to global warming. Mid-tropospheric CO_2 retrieved by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder shows a substantial spatiotemporal variability that is supported by in situ aircraft measurements. The distribution of middle tropospheric CO_2 is strongly influenced by surface sources and large-scale circulations such as the mid-latitude jet streams and by synoptic weather systems, most notably in the summer hemisphere. In addition, the effects of stratosphere-troposphere exchange are observed during a final stratospheric warming event. The results provide the means to understand the sources and sinks and the lifting of CO_2 from surface layers into the free troposphere and its subsequent transport around the globe. These processes are not adequately represented in three chemistry-transport models that have been used to study carbon budgets.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the EOS Aqua spacecraft provides calibrated radiances and geophysical products for Earth science investigation and validation of processes affecting weather and climate. A description of the major products including temperature profiles, water vapor profiles, surface products, cloud products and composition products is presented. The wide variety of products available from AIRS make it uniquely able to address science questions involving interaction of geophysical variables in the climate system.

The wide range of products available from AIRS have made it invaluable as a tool for operational weather forecasting and climate modeling. AIRS has improved the 5 day forecast by 6 hours in the NCEP operational system and researchers have identified further improvement potential by assimilation of more channels and footprints. AIRS data have been used to validate the distribution and transport of water vapor and greenhouse gases in climate models, resulting in the identification of significant errors in the handling of these quantities. We present the AIRS Version 5 products and their accuracies and reference key papers involving their use. We also touch briefly on the limitations of AIRS due to its coarse spatial resolution, particularly in achieving boundary layer sensitivity.

The AIRS instrument was launched in May 2002 into a polar sun-synchronous orbit onboard the EOS Aqua Spacecraft. Since then we have released three versions of the AIRS data product to the scientific community. AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), produces temperature profiles with 1K/km accuracy on a global scale, as well as water vapor profiles and trace gas amounts. The first version of software, Version 2.0 was available to scientists shortly after launch with Version 3.0 released to the public in June 2003. Like all AIRS product releases, all products are accessible to the public in order to have the best user feedback on issues that appear in the data. Fortunately the products have had exceptional accuracy and stability. This paper presents the improvement between AIRS Version 4.0 and Version 5.0 products and shows examples of the new products available in Version 5.0.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) sounding suite, launched in 2002, is the most advanced atmospheric sounding system to date, with measurement accuracies far surpassing those of current operational weather satellites. From its sun-synchronous polar orbit, the AIRS system provides more than 300,000 all-weather soundings covering more than 90% of the globe every 24 hours. Usage of AIRS data products, available to all through the archive system operated by NASA, is spreading throughout the atmospheric and climate research community. An ongoing validation effort has confirmed that the system is very accurate and stable and is close to meeting the goal of providing global temperature soundings with an accuracy of 1 K per 1-km layer and water vapor soundings with an accuracy of 20% throughout the troposphere, surpassing the accuracy of radiosondes. This unprecedented data set is currently used for operational weather prediction in a number of countries, yielding significant positive impact on forecast accuracy and range. It is also enabling more detailed investigations of current issues in atmospheric and climate research. In addition to the basic soundings related to the hydrologic cycle, AIRS also measures a number of trace gases, the latest such product being the global distribution of carbon dioxide. We discuss some examples of recent research with AIRS data.

The combined performance of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua spacecraft is possible in a single instrument with today's technology. Combining the capability allows better accuracy and resolution of products produced by both instruments. This paper describes the top level requirements expected from such an instrument, the types of products anticipated, and discusses technology readiness.

This paper presents the standard and research products from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and their current accuracies as demonstrated through validation efforts. It also summarizes ongoing research using AIRS data for weather prediction and improving climate models.

We examine differences in total precipitable water vapor (PWV) from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) experiments sharing the Aqua spacecraft platform. Both systems provide estimates of PWV over water surfaces. We compare AIRS and AMSR-E PWV to constrain AIRS retrieval uncertainties as functions of AIRS retrieved infrared cloud fraction. PWV differences between the two instruments vary only weakly with infrared cloud fraction up to about 70%. Maps of AIRS-AMSR-E PWV differences vary with location and season. Observational biases, when both instruments observe identical scenes, are generally less than 5%. Exceptions are in cold air outbreaks where AIRS is biased moist by 10-20% or 10-60% (depending on retrieval processing) and at high latitudes in winter where AIRS is dry by 5-10%. Sampling biases, from different sampling characteristics of AIRS and AMSR-E, vary in sign and magnitude. AIRS sampling is dry by up to 30% in most high-latitude regions but moist by 5-15% in subtropical stratus cloud belts. Over the northwest Pacific, AIRS samples conditions more moist than AMSR-E by a much as 60%. We hypothesize that both wet and dry sampling biases are due to the effects of clouds on the AIRS retrieval methodology. The sign and magnitude of these biases depend upon the types of cloud present and on the relationship between clouds and PWV. These results for PWV imply that climatologies of height-resolved water vapor from AIRS must take into consideration local meteorological processes affecting AIRS sampling.

[1] AIRS was launched on EOS Aqua on 4 May 2002, together with AMSU A and HSB, to form a next generation polar orbiting infrared and microwave atmospheric sounding system. The primary products of AIRS/AMSU are twice daily global fields of atmospheric temperature-humidity profiles, ozone profiles, sea/land surface skin temperature, and cloud related parameters including OLR. The sounding goals of AIRS are to produce 1 km tropospheric layer mean temperatures with an RMS error of 1 K, and layer precipitable water with an RMS error of 20%, in cases with up to 80% effective cloud cover. The basic theory used to analyze AIRS/AMSU/HSB data in the presence of clouds, called the at-launch algorithm, was described previously. Prelaunch simulation studies using this algorithm indicated that these results should be achievable. Some modifications have been made to the at-launch retrieval algorithm as described in this paper. Sample fields of parameters retrieved from AIRS/AMSU/HSB data are presented and validated as a function of retrieved fractional cloud cover. As in simulation, the degradation of retrieval accuracy with increasing cloud cover is small and the RMS accuracy of lower-tropospheric temperature retrieved with 80% cloud cover is about 0.5 K poorer than for clear cases. HSB failed in February 2003, and consequently, HSB channel radiances are not used in the results shown in this paper. The AIRS/AMSU retrieval algorithm described in this paper, called version 4, become operational at the Goddard DAAC (Distributed Active Archive Center) in April 2003 and is being used to analyze near-real time AIRS/AMSU data. Historical AIRS/AMSU data, going backward from March 2005 through September 2002, is also being analyzed by the DAAC using the version 4 algorithm.

We present a general method for the determination of minor gases in the troposphere from high spectral resolution observations. In this method, we make use of a general property of the total differential of multi-variable functions to separate the contributions of each individual minor gas. We have applied this method to derive the mixing ratio of carbon dioxide in the mid-troposphere using data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) currently flying on the NASA Aqua Mission. We compare our results to the aircraft flask CO2 measurements obtained by H. Matsueda et al. over the western Pacific and demonstrate skill in tracking the measured 5 ppmv seasonal variation with an accuracy of 0.43 +/- 1.20 ppmv.

The Earth Science and Meteorological communities are taking great interest in a new instrument released by NASA. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) , launched on the EOS Aqua Spacecraft on May 4, 2002, is a high spectral resolution infrared imaging spectrometer with over 2300 distinct infrared wavelengths ranging from 3.7 P m to 15.4 P m. AIRS is unique in that it provides the highest infrared spectr al resolution to date while also providing coverage of over 95% of the Earth’s surface every day at 15 km spatial resolution. The AIRS project is currently managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California 1 . The AIRS is providing a wealth of scientific data to the Earth Science community including upper atmospheric water vapor and atmospheric composition on key greenhouse gases. It is also improving weathe r forecasting and the studies of proce sses affecting climate and weather. KEYWORDS Remote Sensing, Infrared, Weather Forecasting, Humidity, Temperature Profiles, Greenhouse Gases

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) was launched on May 4, 2002 on the NASA Aqua Satellite. AIRS measures the infrared spectrum in 2378 channels with a very high spectral resolution of approximately 1200. In this paper, the spatial properties of the infrared channels are presented in their flight configuration. The spatial response for any single channel is slightly irregular and rotates off nadir due to image rotation in the scan mirror. AIRS has several channels with the same spectral frequencies but different spatial responses. These channels are used to demonstrate the efficacy of resampling using standard techniques to improve the co-registration

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) was launched in May 2002. Along with two companion microwave sensors, it forms the AIRS Sounding Suite. This system is the most advanced atmospheric sounding system to date, with measurement accuracies far surpassing those available on current weather satellites. The data products are calibrated radiances from all three sensors and a number of derived geophysical parameters, including vertical temperature and humidity profiles, surface temperature, cloud fraction, cIoud top pressure, and profiles of ozone. These products are generated under cloudy as well as clear conditions. An ongoing calibration validation effort has confirmed that the system is very accurate and stable, and many of the geophysical parameters have been validated. AIRS is in some cases more accurate than any other source and can therefore be difficult to validate, but this offers interesting new research opportunities. The applications for the AIRS products range from numerical weather prediction to atmospheric research - where the AIRS water vapor products near the surface and in the mid to upper troposphere will make it possible to characterize and model phenomena that are key for short-term atmospheric processes, such as weather patterns, to long-term processes, such as interannual cycles (e.g., El Nino) and climate change.

The application of hyper spectral radiometric data to climate research requires very high absolute radiometric accuracy and stability. We use cloud-free tropical ocean data from the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIR) Calibration Data Subset (ADCS) to show that the radiometric precision and stability required climate applications has been achieved. The sea surface skin temperatures derived from the AIRS 2616cm-1 super window channel are stable relative to the RTG.SST at the better than 8 mK/year level, and the spectral calibration is stable at the 1 ppm/year level. The excellent stability and accuracy are the result of the implementation of AIRS as a grating array spectrometer, which is cooled and stabilized within 10 mK at 155 K. Analysis of daily measurements of the temperature gradient between the surface and 7 km altitude show that the AIRS Calibration Data Subset has applications which extend its original intent for calibration support to climate research. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the EOS Aqua satellite was launched into polar orbit in May 2002. AIRS covers the spectral region from 640 to 2700 cm-1 with 2378 independent channels and represents the first of a new generation of hyper spectral resolution sounders in support of global sounding data for weather forecasting and climate research.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), and Humidity Sounder from Brazil (HSB) are three instruments onboard the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua Spacecraft. Together, they form the Aqua Infrared and Microwave Sounding Suite (AIMSS). This paper discusses the science objectives and the status of the instruments and their data products one year after launch. All instruments went through a successful activation and calibration and have produced exceptional, calibrated, Level 1B data products. The Level 1B Product Generation Executables (PGEs) have been given to NOAA and the GSFC DAAC for production and distribution of data products. After nine months of operations, the HSB instrument experienced an electrical failure of the scanner. Despite the loss of HSB, early validation results have shown the AIRS and AMSU are producing very good temperature profiles.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) has been developed for the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) program for a scheduled launch on the EOS PM-1 spacecraft in December 2000. AIRS, working in concert with complementary microwave instrumentation on EOS PM-1, is designed to provide both new and more accurate data about the atmosphere, land and oceans for application to climate studies and weather prediction. Among the important parameters to be derived from AIRS observations are atmospheric temperature profiles with an average accuracy of 1 K in 1 kilometer (km) layers in the troposphere, humidity profiles to 10% accuracy and surface temperatures with an average accuracy of 0.5 K. The AIRS measurement technique is based on passive IR remote sensing using a precisely calibrated grating spectrometer operating in the 3.7 - 15.4 micrometer region. The instrument concept uses a passively cooled array spectrometer approach in combination with advanced state of the art focal plan and cryogenic refrigerator technology to achieve high performance in a practical long life configuration. The AIRS instrument has successfully completed a comprehensive performance verification program conducted at the Lockheed Martin IR Imaging Systems (LMIRIS) AIRS Test and Calibration Facility (ATCF), which was specially designed for precise spectroradiometric testing of space instrumentation. This paper provides a brief overview of the AIRS mission and instrument design, ATCF test capabilities, along with key results.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) has been developed for the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) program for a scheduled launch on the EOS PM-1 spacecraft in December 2000. AIRS, working in concert with complementary microwave instrumentation on EOS PM-1 is designed to provide both new and more accurate data about the atmosphere, land and oceans for application to NASA climate studies and NOAA and DOD weather prediction. Among the important parameters to be derived from AIRS observations are atmospheric temperature profiles with an average accuracy of 1 K in 1 kilometer (km) layers in the troposphere, humidity profiles to 10% accuracy and surface temperatures with an average accuracy of 0.5 K. The AIRS measurement technique is based on passive IR remote sensing using a precisely calibrated, high spectral resolution grating spectrometer operating in the 3.7 - 15.4 micrometer region. The instrument concept uses a passively cooled multi- aperture echelle array spectrometer approach in combination with advanced state of the art focal plane and cryogenic refrigerator technology to achieve unparalleled performance capability in a practical long life configuration. The AIRS instrument, which has been under development since 1991, has been fully integrated and has completed successfully a comprehensive performance verification program. Performance verification included thermal vacuum testing, environmental qualification and a full range of spatial, spectral and radiometric calibrations, which have demonstrated outstanding spectrometric performance. This paper provides a brief overview of the AIRS mission and instrument design along with key results from the test program.

The atmospheric infrared sounder (AIRS) is being developed for the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) program with a scheduled launch on the first post meridian (PM) platform in the year 2000. AIRS is designed to provide both new and more accurate data about the atmosphere, land, and oceans for applications to climate studies and weather prediction. Among the important parameters to be derived from AIRS observations are atmospheric temperature profiles with an average accuracy of 1K in 1 kilometer (km) layers in the troposphere and surface temperatures with an average accuracy of 0.5 K. The AIRS measurement technique is based on very sensitive passive IR remote sensing using a precisely calibrated, high spectral resolution grating spectrometer operating in the 3.7 micrometers to 15.4 micrometers region. The instrument concept utilizes a passively cooled multiaperture echelle array spectrometer approach in combination with advanced state of the art focal plane and cryogenic refrigerator technology to achieve unparalleled performance capability in a practical long life configuration. AIRS is a key component of NASA's Global Change Research Program and is expected to play an important role in fulfilling the needs of the converged National Polar- Orbiting Operating Environment Satellite System (NPOESS) now under study. This paper provides a brief overview of the mission followed by a description of the instrument design and current development status.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.