Satellites for Atmospheric Sciences 1 E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 483

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

How can atmospheric variables such as temperature, wind, rain and ozone be measured by satellites? How are these measurements taken and what has been learned since the first measurements in the 1970s? What data are currently available and what data are expected in the future? The first volume of this encyclopedic book answers these questions by reporting the history of satellite meteorology and addresses how national and international agencies define coordinated programs to cover user needs. It also presents the principles of satellite remote sensing to deliver products suited to user requirements. This book is completed by a glossary and appendices with a list of supporting instruments already in use.

Leseprobe

SCIENCES

Space Exploration and Technology,Field Director – Jean-Luc Lefebvre

Space and Earth, Subject Head – Jean-Luc Lefebvre

Satellites for Atmospheric Sciences 1

Meteorology, Climate and Atmospheric Composition

Coordinated by

Thierry Phulpin

Didier Renaut

Hervé Roquet

Claude Camy-Peyret

First published 2023 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

ISTE Ltd27-37 St George’s RoadLondon SW19 4EUUK

www.iste.co.uk

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030USA

www.wiley.com

© ISTE Ltd 2023The rights of Thierry Phulpin, Didier Renaut, Hervé Roquet and Claude Camy-Peyret to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s), contributor(s) or editor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of ISTE Group.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023941805

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA CIP record for this book is available from the British LibraryISBN 978-1-78945-140-5

ERC code:PE10 Earth System Science PE10_1 Atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric composition, air pollution PE10_2 Meteorology, atmospheric physics and dynamics PE10_14 Earth observations from space/remote sensingPE9 Universe Sciences PE9_15 Space Sciences PE9_17 Instrumentation - telescopes, detectors and techniques

Acknowledgments

The coordinator is very grateful to Didier Renaut, Hervé Roquet and Claude Camy-Peyret for their significant help in editing this book through their advice, proofreading, corrections to chapters and help with the organization. Their support has been invaluable in bringing together quality contributions in a book that will cover the different facets of the topic Space and Atmosphere in a comprehensive manner. Gratitude is also expressed to Jérome Lafeuille and Jean Pailleux for their proofreading and improvements to various chapters. Finally, special thanks to the journal La Météorologie for having authorized the use of the glossary established for the special issue of the journal, No. 97 in 2019, devoted to satellite missions for meteorology and climate.

List of Acronyms

(3D/4D)-Var

(3/4 Dimensional) – Variational

4A/OP

Automatized Atmospheric Absorption Atlas/OPerational

AC-VC

Atmospheric Composition Virtual Constellation

ACCP

Aerosols, Clouds, Convection and Precipitation

ACX

GeoXO Atmospheric Composition

ADM

Atmospheric Dynamics Mission

AERIS

Data and Services for the Atmosphere

AERONET

AErosol RObotic NETwork

AI

Artificial Intelligence

AMV

Atmospheric Motion Vector

AOD

Aerosol Optical Depth

APHRODITE

Asian Precipitation – Highly-Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation

APT

Automatic Picture Transmission

ARTS

Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator

ASI

Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (Italian Space Agency)

AVCS

Advanced Vidicon Camera System

BC

Black Carbon

BIPM

International Bureau of Weights and Measures

BRDF

Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function

C3IEL

Cluster for Cloud evolution, ClImatE and Lightning

C3S

Copernicus Climate Change Service

CAMS

Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service

CAPE

Convective Available Potential Energy

CALIPSO

Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation

CATS

Cloud-Aerosol Transport System

CCI

Climate Change Initiative

CCSDS

Consultative Committee on Space Data Systems

CDR

Climate Data Record

CDRD

Cloud Dynamics and Radiation Database

CEOS

Committee on Earth Observation Satellites

CFC

ChlorFluoroCarbon

CGMS

Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites

CI

Convection Initiation

CIMSS

Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies

CLW

Cloud Liquid Water

CM

Cloud Mask

CM-SAF

Climate Monitoring – Satellite Application Facility

CMA

Chinese Meteorological Agency

CMEMS

Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service

CMORPH

CPC MORPHing technique

CMV

Cloud Motion Vector

CNES

Centre national d’études spatiales France

CNRM

Centre national de la recherche météorologique France

CNRS

Centre national de la recherche scientifique France

CNSA

Chinese National Space Administration

COCCON

COllaborative Carbon Column Observing Network

CoMet

Carbon Dioxide and Methane field campaign

CONTRAIL

Comprehensive Observation Network for TRace gases by AIrLiner

COP

Conference Of the Parties

CORRA

COmbined Radar-Radiometer Algorithm

CPC

Climate Prediction Center

CRM

Cloud Resolving Model

CRTM

Community Radiative Transfer Model

CTTH

Cloud Top Temperature and Height

CWDP

Commercial Weather Data Pilot

CYGNSS

CYclone Global Navigation Satellite System

DAOD

Differential AOD

DBNet

Direct Broadcast NETwork WMO-OMM

DCS

Data Collection System

DDA

Discrete Dipole Approximation

DIAL

DIfferential Absorption Lidar

DISORT

DIScrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer

DLR

Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt Allemagne

DMSP

Defense Meteorological Satellite Program

DNB

Day and Night Band

DOFS

Degrees of Freedom for Signal

DU

Dobson Unit

DVB

Digital Video Broadcast

DVB-S

Digital Video Broadcast by Satellite

EC

European Commission

ECMWF

European Centre for Medium-term Weather Forecast

ECOSTRESS

Ecostress Spectral Library Database

ECV

Essential Climate Variable

EDR

Environmental Data Record

EE

Earth Explorer

EEA

European Environment Agency

EF

Emission Factor

ELDO

European Launcher Development Organisation

ENSO

El Niño Southern Oscillation

EOS

Earth Observing System

EOSDIS

EOS Data Information System

EPS

EUMETSAT Polar System

ERA

ECMWF ReAnalysis

ERB

Earth Radiation Budget

ESA

European Space Agency

ESE

Earth Science Enterprise

ESRO

European Space Research Organisation

ESSA

Environmental Science Services Administration

ESSP

Earth System Science Pathfinder

ESTO

Earth Science Technology Office

EUMETSAT

EUropean organisation for the exploitation of METeorological SATellites

EW

Earth Watch

EXIM

EXtrapolated IMagery products

FASTEM

FAST Emissivity Model

FCDR

Fundamental Climate Data Record

FCI

Flexible Combined Imager

FCover

Fractional Cover (of vegetation)

FDR

Fundamental Data Record

FGGE

First GARP Global Experiment

FFT

Fast Fourier Transform

FGGE

First Global GARP Experiment WMO-OMM

FIR

Far IR

FOR

Field Of Regard

FOV

Field Of View

FSOI

Forecast Sensitivity Observation Impact

FSR

Forecast Sensitivity to R (the observation error covariance matrix)

FT

Fourier Transform

FTS

Fourier Transform Spectrometer

FY

Feng Yun

GADS

Global Aerosol Data Set

GARP

Global Atmospheric Research Programme WMO-OMM

GAS

GMES Atmospheric Service

GASP

GOES Aerosol/Smoke Product

GAW

Global Atmospheric Watch

GCM

Global Climate Model

GCOS

Global Climate Observing System

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

GEO

GEostationary Orbit

GEO

Group on Earth Observation

GEOS-5

Goddard Earth Observing System model – version 5

GEOSS

Global Earth Observation System of Systems

GeoXO

GEOstationary eXtended Observations

GEWEX

Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment

GHCN

Global Historical Climatology Network

GHG

GreenHouse Gas

GLM

Geostationary Lightning Mapper

GMES

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security

GMF

Geophysical Model Function

GNP

Gross National Product

GNSS

Global Navigation Satellite System

GOCCP

GCM-Oriented CALIPSO Cloud Product (CALIPSO-GOCCP)

GPCC

Global Precipitation Climatology Center

GPCP

Global Precipitation Climatology Project

GPI

GOES Precipitation Index

GPM-CO

GPM-Core Observatory

GPROF

Goddard PROFiling algorithm

GPS

Global Positioning System

GRUAN

Global Reference Upper-Air Network GCOS

GSFC

Goddard Space Flight Center

GSICS

Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System

GSIP

GOES Surface and Insolation Project

GSMaP

Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation

GSOD

Global Summary Of the Day

GV

Ground Validation

H-SAF

Hydrology – Satellite Application Facility

HCFC

HydroChloroFluoroCarbon

HEO

High Eccentricty Orbit

HEPAD

High Energy Proton and Alpha Detector

HFC

HydroFluoroCarbon

HLOS

Horizontal Line Of Sight

HOAPS

Hamburg Ocean Atmosphere Parameters and fluxes from Satellite data

HRIT

High Rate Image Transmission

HRPT

High Resolution Picture Transmission

HSRL

High Spectral Resolution Lidar

IAGOS

In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System

IBTrACS

International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship

ICOADS

International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set

ICOS

Integrated Carbon Observation System

IEC

International Electrotechnical Commission

IF

Intermediate Frequency

IFS

Integrated Forecasting System

IIP

Instrument Incubator Program

IJSP

International Joint Polar System

ILS

Instrument Line Shape

IMD

Indian Meteorological Department

IMERG

Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM

IMS

Ice Mapping System

IMS

Interactive Multisensor Snow

INDOEX

INDian Ocean EXperiment

INPE

Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais Brésil

InVEST

In-space Validation of Earth Science Technology

IOC

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission UNESCO

IODC

Indian Ocean Data Coverage

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IPDA

Integrated Path Differential Absorption

IPSL

Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace France

IPWG

International Precipitation Working Group CGMS

IR

Infra-Red

IROWG

International Radio Occultation Working Group CGMS

ISA

Israel Space Agency

ISCCP

International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project

ISO

International Standardization Organization

ISRF

Instantaneous Spectral Response Function

ISRO

Indian Space Research Organization

ISS

International Space Station

ITOS

Improved TIROS Operational System

ITWG

International TOVS Working Group CGMS

IUPAC

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

IWP

Ice Water Path

IWWG

International Winds Working Group CGMS

JAXA

Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency

JCSDA

Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation

JMA

Japan Meteorological Agency

JPL

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

JPSS

Joint Polar Satellite System

JRA

Japanese ReAnalysis

KMA

Korean Meteorological Agency

LAI

Leaf Area Index

LAMP

Laboratoire de météorologie physique France

LATMOS

Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiales France

LEO

Low Earth Orbit

LI

Lifted Index

LIDORT

LInearized Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer

LMD

Laboratoire de météorologie dynamique France

LMT

Local Mean solar Time

LMT

LowerMost Troposphere

LOA

Laboratoire d’optique atmosphérique France

LOS

Line Of Sight

LRIT

Low Rate Information Transmission

LRPT

Low Resolution Picture Transmission

LRR

Laser Retro-Reflector

LSE

Land Surface Emissivity

LSI

Low Stream Approximation

LST

Land Surface Temperature

LTE

Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium

LUT

Look-Up Table

MAG

Mission Advisory Group

MAGIC

Monitoring Atmospheric composition and Greenhouse gases through multi-Instrument Campaigns

MEO

Middle Earth Orbit

MEPED

Medium Energy Proton and Electron Detector

MERRA

Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications

MOP

Meteosat Operational Programme

MOZAIC

Measurement of OZone and water vapour by Airbus In-service airCraft)

MSWEP

Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation

MTP

Meteosat Transition Programme

MW

MicroWave

MWR

MW Radiometer

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NCEP

National Center for Environmental Prediction

NDACC

Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change

NDVI

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

NEDT

Noise Equivalent Differential Temperature

NESDIS

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA)

NIR

Near InfraRed (~ 1.0 to 0.7 µm)

NMVOC

Non-Methane Volatile Organic Compounds

NOAA

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NOAA/NESDIS

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Satellite and Information Service

NPP

NPOESS Preparatory Program

NRT

Near Real-Time

NSOAS

National Satellite Ocean Application Service

NSOSA

NOAA Satellite Observing System Architecture study

NSSDC

NASA Space Science Data Center

NUCAPS

NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System

NWP

Numerical Weather Prediction

NWP-SAF

Numerical Weather Prediction – Satellite Application Facility

OceanRAIN

Ocean Rain And Ice-phase precipitation measurement Network

ODS

Ozone Depleting Substances

OI

Optimal Interpolation

OLR

Outgoing Longwave Radiation

OLS

Operational Linescan System

OPAC

Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds

OPD

Optical Path Difference

OSCAR

Observing Systems Capability Analysis and Review tool

OSE

Observing System Experiments

OSSA

Office of Space Science Applications

OSSE

Observing System Simulation Experiments

OSTIA

Operational Sea surface Temperature and Ice Analysis

PACRAIN

Pacific Rainfall Database

PAN

PeroxyAcetyl Nitrate

PAOB

PAid OBservation

PAR

Photosynthetically Active Radiation

PATMOS-x

Pathfinder ATMOSpheres – eXtended

PERSIANN

Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks

PERSIANN-CCS

PERSIANN-Cloud Classification System

PM

Particulate Matter

PM2.5

Particulate Matter (diameter smaller than 2.5 µm)

PMW

Passive MicroWave

PNPR

Passive microwave Neural network Precipitation Retrieval

POA

Primary Organic Aerosol

POEM

Polar-Orbit Earth-Observation Mission

PPS

Precipitation Processing System

PRPS

Precipitation Retrieval and Profiling Scheme

PSC

Polar Stratospheric Cloud

QA4EO

Quality Assurance Framework for Earth Observation

QI

Quality Index

QRNN

Quantile Residual Neural Network

R&T

Research & Technology

RDT

Rapidly Developing Thunderstorm

RF

RadioFrequency

RO

Radio Occultation

ROC

Reactive Organic Carbon

ROSCOSMOS

Russian Federal Space Agency

RR

Rain Rate

RSS

Rapid Scanning Service

RT

Radiative Transfer

RTE

Radiative Transfer Equation

RTTOV

Rapid Transmission for TOVs

RTTOV-SCAT

RTTOV with SCATtering

SAF

Satellite Application Facility

SAG

Science Advisory Group

SAGE

Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment

SAM-II

Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II

SC

Snow Cover

SCaMPR

Self-Calibrating Multivariate Precipitation Retrieval

SEM

Space Environment Monitor

SFCG

Space Frequency Coordination Group

SI

International System

SIC

Sea Ice Concentration

SNPP

Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership

SNR

Signal to Noise Ratio

SOA

Secondary Organic Aerosol

SORCE

SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment

SOS

Sum Of Squares

SPARC

Stratosphere-troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate

SR

Scattering Ratio

SRSOR

Super Rapid Scan Operations for GOES-R

SSA

Single Scattering Albedo

SSEC

Space Science and Engineering Center

SST

Sea Surface Temperature

STAR

(Center for) Satellite Applications and Research

SWE

Snow Water Equivalent

SWIR

ShortWave InfraRed (~ 2.5 to 1.0 µm)

SZA

Solar Zenithal Angle

Tb

Brightness temperature

TCCON

Total Carbon Column Observing Network

TCHP

Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential

TCWV

Total Column Water Vapor

TED

Total Energy Detector

TEMPEST-D

Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems – Demonstration

TEMPO

Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution

TIR

Thermal InfraRed (~ 15 to 5 µm)

TLS

Temperature of the Lower Stratosphere

TLT

Temperature of the Lower Troposphere

TMPA

TRMM Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis

TMS

Temperature of the Mid-Stratosphere

TMT

Temperature of the Mid-Troposphere

TOAR

Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report

TOR

Tropospheric Ozone Residual

TPW

Total Precipitable Water

TTS

Temperature of the Top Stratosphere

TUS

Temperature of the Upper Stratosphere

TUT

Temperature of the Upper Troposphere

TV

TeleVision

UMORA

Unified Microwave Ocean Retrieval Algorithm

UN

United Nations

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNFCCC

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

UT/LS

Upper Troposphere/Lower Stratosphere

UTH

Upper Tropospheric Humidity

UV

Ultraviolet (~ 400 to 200 nm)

UV-B

Ultraviolet-B (~ 315 to 280 nm)

UVAI

Ultraviolet Aerosol Index

UVN

Ultraviolet, Visible and Near-infrared

VAAC

Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre

VarBC

Variational Bias Correction

VHI

Vegetation Health Index

VIS

VISible

VLIDORT

V-LInearized Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer

VOC

Volatile Organic Compound

WCRP

World Climate Research Program

WEFAX

Weather Facsimile

WF

Weighting Function

WMO

World Meteorological Organization

WWW

World Weather Watch

Introduction

Thierry PHULPIN

Retired from CNES and Météo-France, Toulouse, France

Observation of the Earth System from space

Satellite images are now in common use during television weather forecasts and are now also accessible on smartphones. Nowadays, everyone is introduced to this vision of the Earth from space at school. Thanks to satellites and their imagers, planet Earth appears to everyone as a familiar environment and is seen as a system in which all environments are interconnected. When a storm breaks out, its intensity is marked by the depth of the gyre formed by the depression and translates into very powerful winds whose impact on the ocean is very noticeable in data from oceanographic satellites. A volcanic eruption or an earthquake leaves traces in the atmosphere (ash clouds, ionospheric signals, etc.), which can be perceived and monitored. Heavy precipitation visualized using microwave instruments and droughts measured with sounders leave surface footprints that can be detected with satellites intended for monitoring continental resources. The relationship between the nature of the surface (oceans, desert, soil, bare ground, urban environment, crops, forests, etc.) and its state at a given moment (roughness, water state), in connection with atmospheric conditions, is decisive for meteorology via the mechanisms of thermal emission, or evaporation. All of these relationships can be characterized, inferred or measured by satellites, some intended for oceanography and others for monitoring land surfaces, or even for meteorology. These links between the various compartments of the Earth System began to be clearly highlighted as soon as the human or animal populations inhabiting the Earth began to move between the continents, thanks to discoveries by explorers. These discoveries, by allowing the development of a trade economy, led to the establishment of an interdependent system and had a major impact on a planetary scale, particularly on the various ecosystems. We could therefore already speak of an Earth System as early as the 16th century. However, it is the links between the observed natural phenomena that have made it possible to construct the notion of the climate system. Intuitively, we have perceived over the centuries that many phenomena responsible for the evolution of measurable variables were linked. These concepts can be visualized in diagrams, for example, Figure I.1. However, thanks to satellites, it has been possible to advance in the understanding of the processes (in addition to field studies), quantify certain phenomena at scales not possible from ground measurements alone, establish parametric links between certain variables and ultimately improve the physics of the models and then calibrate or validate these models.

Figure I.1.The different compartments of the Earth System, taken into account in a climate model.

It is therefore logical to address the various subsystems of the Earth in a work devoted to space science, and to consider them in a coherent approach.

The atmosphere

This volume is devoted to satellite observation of the atmosphere and the sciences it has developed: meteorology, atmospheric composition, as well as knowledge of the climate and its evolution.

According to Blum (2019)1, it is the mastery of meteorology that would have allowed the WWII allies to land, demonstrating the major strategic importance of investing in an observation network. Space science and technology started early on, having been boosted by know-how of German engineers who developed the V2. The first photos of the Earth were taken in 1960, which highlighted how important the images were for providing an overview of the spatial distribution of cloud cover and its movement. The US then created a program of meteorological satellites, preceding the Soviets, followed by Europe and Japan. The history of these developments will be discussed in Chapter 1. For meteorology, it is useful for the satellite measurements to be taken at the same solar time, to better follow the evolution of the thermodynamic parameters by comparing them with the readings of the previous day at the same time, hence the use of Sun-synchronous polar orbits. On the other hand, the ability to observe the Earth continuously from geostationary orbit is also very attractive for deducing information about the wind from the apparent movements of clouds and observing the development of storms or the movement of cyclones. The orbits used for these missions and their advantages are described in Chapter 8. It quickly became clear that the long-term continuity of observations under identical conditions is necessary to integrate these observations into the international network of meteorological measurements and to facilitate their use in forecasting models. We then saw a dichotomy of missions appear; on the one hand, a series of identical operational satellites for a program spanning 20 or 30 years and, on the other hand, satellites equipped with innovative instruments for research. In the US, this dichotomy is reflected in the division of responsibilities between NOAA and NASA. These agencies pioneered meteorology from space. The history of their programs to date is presented in the first chapters of this book, comprising Part 1. This part shows how the programs are developed to meet the needs of users, using the most advanced technologies whose developments are supported by the agencies that lead in this field. Following the American agencies, Chapters 4–6 are devoted to the European programs of ESA, EUMETSAT and CNES. We see in Chapter 7 the role played by the World Meteorological Organization in coordinating operational projects from the US, Europe or Asia. The chapter also discusses the issue of data acquisition anywhere on the planet for real-time use.

Part 2 of this book is devoted to the physical basis of satellite observations for atmospheric sciences. Chapter 8 presents the principles of orbital mechanics to determine how to meet the need for observations by meteorologists or orbits more suited to different issues such as monitoring precipitation in intertropical zones or air quality in the most polluted regions. The first operational satellites only offered observation in a visible “channel”, similar to a photograph from the sky, and another in an infrared channel giving an idea of the temperature of the objects targeted. These passive observations have allowed advances in cloud mapping and sea temperature but have proven insufficient to access other meteorological information. The range of observations was quickly extended with observations in multiple optical channels, and the observation domain was extended to the microwave domain, allowing for, due to the digitization of measurements, the transition to the quantitative use of observations. Measurement physics, developed to propose passive or active measurement techniques and better use the resulting data, is presented in Chapter 9. In Chapter 10, we present the problem of finding atmospheric variables of interest from the observations and the main methods used for this purpose.

Part 1 of Volume 2 is more specifically devoted to meteorology. With regard to the three-dimensional distribution of temperature, humidity and wind, the main data useful for meteorology has long been provided by radiosondes. However, these observations are rare over the oceans and are therefore supplemented with satellite measurements of vertical distributions of temperature and humidity. The technique used is based on the selective absorption of carbon dioxide or oxygen, which is scarce but evenly distributed in the atmosphere (at least to the first order), and of water vapor and other greenhouse gases, which strongly absorb infrared or microwave radiation. This method, first tested by the Americans with the Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer (IRIS*) on the Nimbus IV satellite, then gave rise to the TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS*) radiometric sounders, before technically evolving towards much more precise spectrometric measurements with the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS*) and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI*). Chapters 1 to 3 of Volume 2 present the restitution of the main variables characterizing the state of the atmosphere, or that of the surface variables directly useful or necessary for the inversion of the atmospheric characteristics. Chapters 4 to 6 of Volume 2 focus on the major applications of these observations: numerical weather forecasting, short-term forecasting and cyclone tracking.

Atmospheric sounding missions using spectrometry are successful by analyzing minority atmospheric components that are important for the planet or for human health, such as stratospheric ozone, gases and particles that are involved in air quality or the greenhouse effect.

The use of space observations and the benefits derived from them are presented in Part 2 of Volume 2: detection of polluting species dangerous to health (Chapters 7 and 8, Volume 2), observation of clouds of desert dust and elements emitted by bush or forests. Chapter 11 of Volume 2 is devoted to stratospheric chemistry, better known and understood thanks to the many satellite observations devoted to monitoring the hole in the ozone layer.

Because they offer precise and well-targeted observations with global spatial coverage, satellites have contributed significantly to better understanding the processes at play in the Earth’s climate. In addition, the continuity of long-term observations (more than 30 years of data!) makes it possible to monitor the evolution of the climate and to attribute certain phenomena to this evolution. Part 3 of Volume 2 concerns the use of satellite observations for the analysis of climatic processes and the monitoring of climatic variables. In its introduction, Chapter 12 of Volume 2 recalls the importance of well-calibrated data, the need to reprocess the data acquired over time in a homogeneous manner and to repeat the reprocessing of the products as and when more efficient algorithms and processes become available. Chapter 13 of Volume 2 is devoted to the restitution of the greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 and to the location of the sinks and sources of these gases, which play a major role in the warming of the atmosphere. Clouds and water vapor also play an essential role. However, these variables have been monitored from the very first satellites. Analytical techniques have been refined and new data produced with more precise instruments have arrived, making it possible to more precisely estimate the spatio-temporal distribution of atmospheric water (Chapter 14 of Volume 2). Clouds and water vapor are also involved in precipitation: the distribution and intensity of which are regularly monitored (Chapter 15 of Volume 2).

In addition to an index, this book also includes a glossary to clarify the definition of certain concepts, appendices including a compilation of the names of instruments and satellites in question (to be updated as and when new missions occur), as well as a list of acronyms.

Notes

1.

Blum, A. (2019).

The Weather Machine. How We see in the Future

. The Bodley Head, London.

*

See

Glossary

.

PART 1Satellite Observation of the Earth’s Atmosphere: International Cooperation

1History of Meteorological Satellites

Sylvain LE MOAL

Centre de météorologie spatiale, Météo-France, Lannion, France

1.1. The beginnings of remote sensing and the conquest of space

For centuries, the atmosphere has remained enigmatic, its movements are difficult to decipher from the ground. Scientists interested in weather, and therefore in meteorology, sought to unravel its mysteries. At first, they could only gain altitude by climbing mountains, loaded with measuring instruments. Later, they operated flying instruments (balloons, kites, planes, rockets, etc.), measuring and recording atmospheric parameters: temperature, pressure, humidity, wind direction and speed. Thanks to on board cameras, it was finally possible to see the Earth from the sky. Among so many other scholars, Pascal, Gay-Lussac, Mendeleïev, Teisserenc de Bort, Bjerknes and Idrac were part of this quest.

On October 23, 1858, Félix Tournachon, known as Nadar, a great photographer and ballooning enthusiast, took the first aerial photograph of Paris from a tethered balloon 80 m high. He can be considered the father of remote sensing. Today, it is unfortunately impossible to get your hands on this shot. In Nadar’s footsteps, two years later, on October 13, 1860, James Wallace Black photographed part of the city of Boston from a hot air balloon. This first aerial view taken in America is kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The work is titled “Boston, as seen by eagles and wild geese”.

It was not until October 24, 1946 that a photograph of the Earth seen from more than 100 km above sea level was obtained using a 35 mm camera on board a German-made V2 rocket at the end of World War II. Taking off from the White Sands Missile Range (New Mexico), it captured the roundness of the Earth and, for the first time, showed cloud cover from space.

Figure 1.1.October 24, 1946 – first photo taken from space

(source: Wikimedia commons)

From 1947 to 1950, experiments of this type multiplied in the United States thanks to the V2 rockets, then Aerobee and Viking. They gave rise to a classified report by the Rand Corporation in April 1951 entitled “Inquiry into the feasibility of weather reconnaissance from a satellite vehicle”. This report shows the benefit that future satellites would have in facilitating the recognition of clouds, to delimit air masses, to estimate temperatures and winds, and to help in the drawing and analysis of weather maps at the synoptic scale*.

In 1954, photographs taken from a U.S. Navy Aerobee rocket confirmed the value of images produced from space. The structure of the storm coming from the Gulf of Mexico and the distribution of the associated rains were deciphered, whereas with conventional methods this is not possible.

The International Geophysical Year of 1957–1958 marked the beginning of the Space Age. As early as July 1955, the United States and the Soviet Union announced that they were each preparing an artificial satellite for this event. On the American side, the competition was fierce. The U.S. Navy was a candidate, with its Aerobee and Viking rockets, as well as the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army had in its ranks Wernher von Braun and his team of German engineers who designed the V2s, who moved to the West at the end of the war. Von Braun outlined his plan to launch the first artificial satellite using the Redstone missile as a launcher, directly derived from the German V2. On this basis, the U.S. Army launched the Orbiter project. As President Eisenhower did not want the first launch of an American satellite to be entrusted to a predominantly German team, the Orbiter project was abandoned in favor of the U.S. Navy’s project Vanguard, which was less accomplished than its competitor, and the von Braun team was banned from any attempt to launch a satellite. Vanguard was a fiasco, with nine failures on 14 attempts (including the first two test launches).

Figure 1.2.October 5, 1954 – composite image of a storm

(source: Wikimedia commons)

On the Soviet side, Sergei Korolev was developing missiles with increasing capabilities from the V2. On August 21, 1957, the intercontinental ballistic missile R-7 Semiorka made its first successful flight. It was chosen to place the first Soviet satellite in orbit. The launch of Sputnik took place on October 4, 1957 from what would become the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan). Sputnik was an aluminum sphere 58 cm in diameter, equipped with four antennas and weighing approximately 84 kg. Its payload is a radio transmitter whose signal can be picked up by radios around the world. The Americans found this launch traumatic. According to them, it highlighted that the Soviet Union had the technology to attack the United States with a nuclear projectile. The Sputnik crisis triggered a space race between the two parties. The dog Laïka went aboard Sputnik-2 on November 3, 1957. The United States then entrusted the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the U.S. Army, therefore von Braun, with the mission to make up for the gap between them and the Soviets. Three months was enough. Launched from Cape Canaveral (Florida) by a Juno-I rocket on January 31, 1958, Explorer-1 was the first American artificial satellite. Its data led to the discovery of Van Allen belts (torus-shaped regions in space, very dense in energetic particles). In order to bring order to the various initiatives and to pilot space programs and aeronautical research in the United States, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was founded on July 29, 1958.

Verner Suomi and Robert Parent, both from the University of Wisconsin, managed to convince von Braun to board Explorer-7 with the radiometer they had developed. Launched on October 13, 1959 from Cape Canaveral, it was the first satellite associated with meteorology. The radiometer consisted of five bolometers that converted the incident electromagnetic energy flux into heat. Its objective was to measure the radiated power by separating the reflected solar radiation from the radiation emitted by the Earth and its atmosphere. It was the first satellite to provide information on the Earth’s radiation budget, which is a still current concern.

1.2. It all began with Tiros-1, the first meteorological satellite

In April 1958, following President Eisenhower’s announcement to create NASA, the Department of Defense (DoD) founded the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), which began to develop a meteorological satellite, before NASA took over its cruising speed. After a historic meeting at the Pentagon, ARPA formed a committee chaired by William Kellogg to define the content of the payload of future satellites. A camera made of a newly developed Vidicon tube was chosen. The main challenge was to be able to take photographs with this camera attached to a rotation-stabilized satellite; the solution was to mount it on the rotation axis. Originally, Kellogg wanted to have three cameras, from the wide-angle camera to the most precise. The latter was refused because of its horizontal resolution of 100 m, which was too detailed and therefore militarily sensitive. This was the beginning of the Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) program. TIROS was finally transferred to NASA in early 1959.

Tiros-1 thus marked the beginning of the space age in meteorology. It was launched on April 1, 1960, early in the morning, from the Cape Canaveral base in Florida, by a Thor-Able rocket. This 122 kg satellite, 56 cm high and 107 cm in diameter, revolved around the Earth at an altitude of 720 km in an orbit inclined at 48.4° from the plane of the equator. It took pictures at scheduled intervals. Its two cameras targeted the same region with different field widths. The first had a wide angle and covered an area of 1,200 km by 1,200 km with a spatial resolution of approximately 3 km; the second was equipped with a zoom for an area of 120 km by 120 km with a resolution of 300 m to 800 m. Each camera had its own tape recorder and could store up to 32 images. The recorded images were transmitted when Tiros-1 passed over one of the two receiving stations. At the same time, the image being created was sent in real time. The first station was the U.S. Air Force Tracking Station at Kaena Point (Hawaii), the second being the U.S. Army Signal Research and Development Laboratories at Fort Monmouth (New Jersey). At both stations, the images were recorded on film and photographed for immediate processing by meteorologists who carried out nephanalyses. These were forwarded to the Weather Bureau by fax. They generated little enthusiasm among forecasters, since their reading required a little effort to draw a meteorological interpretation. On April 9, 1960, Tiros-1 transmitted the image of a hurricane in the Coral Sea, off the northeast coast of Australia. This was the first of a long series, the hurricanes no longer escaping the eye of the satellites. Tiros-1 only worked for 78 days, falling victim to a power failure after having transmitted, in two and a half months, 22,952 images leading to 333 nephanalyses. On April 27, 1961, Francis Reichelderfer, head of the Weather Bureau declared: “For the first time, Man has a complete view of weather conditions over a large part of the Earth and the data collected by Tiros-1 would have required thousands of weather ships scattered over all the oceans”.

Figure 1.3.April 1, 1960 – first image of Tiros-1 – Coasts of Maine and Maritime Provinces of Canada

(source: NASA)

Nephanalysis is the graphical interpretation of cloud data on a map. At the very beginning, the interpretation involved analyzing photographs using two basic criteria, the degree of cloud brilliance and cloud shape, in order to plot on a map the outline of the cloudy sectors and the symbols corresponding to the cloud classification and cloudiness. This analysis was significantly improved in 1970 by the use of infrared images, in addition to images of the visible channel. See example in Figure 1.5.

1.3. American meteorological satellites

1.3.1. Polar-orbiting satellites

1.3.1.1. Tiros – 1st generation

Figure 1.4.December 24, 1963 – first image received in Europe from a meteorological satellite, at the CEMS in Lannion

(source: Météo-France)

Ten satellites made up the first series of Tiros, whose launches were spread over five years. Tiros-8 was equipped with automatic picture transmission (APT), real-time image broadcasting, which allowed many meteorological services to receive the images. The cost of a receiving station was low, which allowed many countries to have them. This was the case of the Center for Space Meteorological Studies (CEMS in French), newly created in Lannion by the French National Meteorological Department. Good signal reception assumes that the antenna is pointed towards the satellite and follows it as it moves. In practice, a readjustment every 30 seconds is sufficient but the tracking is manual by following the position of the satellite using the ephemeris provided by NASA. As a nice Christmas present, the first image of a portion of orbit no. 45 of Tiros-8 was received on December 24, 1963 in Lannion around 12:30 UTC. The CEMS is the first center in Europe to receive an image from a meteorological satellite. The interpretation is tricky and requires a bit of imagination to extract meteorological information! Tiros-9 and Tiros-10, which complete the program, were the first to be positioned in a sun-synchronous orbit.

Figure 1.5.December 24, 1963 – nephanalysis performed by CEMS meteorologists in Lannion

(source: Météo-France)

1.3.1.2. Nimbus

The family of Nimbus satellites, all Sun-synchronous, took over from Tiros. These were seven experimental satellites, designed by NASA, launched between 1964 and 1978. They made it possible to test many instruments, in particular for vertical probing of the atmosphere. The instruments on board varied according to the satellites. In addition to conventional imagers were the high-resolution infrared sounder HIRS**, the infrared interferometer IRIS**, the limb infrared sounder LRIR**, microwave radiometers ESMR** and SMMR**, the spectrometer dedicated to ozone TOMS** and the coastal zone color scanner CZCS**. These instruments were then deployed on operational satellites.

1.3.1.3. Tiros operational satellite (TOS) – 2nd generation

The TOS program included nine satellites named ESSA, named after the administration in charge of the program: Environmental Science Services Administration (predecessor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – NOAA). ESSA-1 was put into orbit on February 3, 1966 from Cape Canaveral and carried the same type of Vidicon camera as the last Tiros. ESSA-9, the last of the series, was launched on February 26, 1969.

Figure 1.6.ESSA-1 satellite

(source: Wikimedia commons)

1.3.1.4. Improved Tiros Operational System (ITOS) – 3rd generation

Ensuring the continuity of TOS, ITOS was a series of six satellites in flight between 1970 and 1979. ITOS-1, also called TIROS-M, was the first. It was succeeded by NOAA-1. From NOAA-2 onwards, the Vidicon cameras were replaced by a two-channel imaging radiometer, one in the visible spectrum, the second in the thermal infrared (VHRR**). Thanks to this infrared channel, images could therefore be used in the nocturnal part of the Earth. NOAA-2 also carried an eight-channel infrared sounder (VTPR**) whose objective was to measure temperatures at different levels in the atmosphere and the integrated water vapor content.

1.3.1.5. From Tiros-N to NOAA-14 – 4th generation

Tiros-N was the first of a series of 10 satellites (Tiros-N, then the satellites from NOAA-6 to NOAA-14, whose launches span from 1978 to 1994). Launched on October 13, 1978, it carried instruments inherited from the Nimbus, which allowed a major advance in the measurement of atmospheric parameters: a five-channel visible and infrared imager (AVHRR**), an infrared sounder for measuring temperature and humidity (HIRS/2), a microwave sounder (MSU**) and a stratospheric sounder (SSU**). These last three instruments constitute the Tiros Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS**). All of these instruments are described in Chapter 2.

Figure 1.7.December 27, 1999 at 16:00 UTC – NOAA-14 – image of storm Martin

(source: Météo-France).

1.3.1.6. From NOAA-15 to NOAA-19 – 5th generation

The objectives of this fifth generation of satellites known as Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) were to provide an uninterrupted flow of imagery data, atmospheric sounding, hydrological and surface information, and ozone observations; to establish a long series of data for climate monitoring and a significant contribution to space weather (with its main objective being to understand the influence of the Sun on the Earth’s environment). It was a program under the responsibility of NOAA in partnership with NASA.

With a take-off weight of 2,232 kg, NOAA-15 was put into orbit on May 13, 1998. It carried more efficient instruments than those of the previous generation: the AVHRR/3 imager, the HIRS/3 infrared sounder, AMSU-A** and AMSU-B microwave sounders.

Thanks to APT and High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) data transmission systems, the fifth-generation NOAA satellites were received by thousands of users around the world. NOAA-19, launched on February 6, 2009, completed the program. NOAA-18 and NOAA-19 were part of a new partnership with EUMETSAT to form the Initial Joint Polar System (IJPS) in which the United States provided afternoon orbit coverage, while Europe ensured the morning orbit with its MetOp satellites.

1.3.1.7. Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)

JPSS was born from the ashes of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program. The objective of the NPOESS program was to provide, using polar satellites, meteorological, oceanographic, climatic and space data that met the operational requirements of American civilian and military communities. It was canceled in 2010 for budgetary reasons. The civil and military programs are now separate.

Figure 1.8.Verner Suomi on January 25, 2012

(source: University of Wisconsin)