Journal Information

Online ISSN: 1520-0477
Print ISSN:    0003-0007
Frequency:    Monthly
Bruce A. Wielicki, D. F. Young, M. G. Mlynczak, K. J. Thome, S. Leroy, J. Corliss, J. G. Anderson, C. O. Ao, R. Bantges, F. Best, K. Bowman, H. Brindley, J. J. Butler, W. Collins, J. A. Dykema, D. R. Doelling, D. R. Feldman, N. Fox, X. Huang, R. Holz, Y. Huang, Z. Jin, D. Jennings, D. G. Johnson, K. Jucks, S. Kato, D. B. Kirk-Davidoff, R. Knuteson, G. Kopp, D. P. Kratz, X. Liu, C. Lukashin, A. J. Mannucci, N. Phojanamongkolkij, P. Pilewskie, V. Ramaswamy, H. Revercomb, J. Rice, Y. Roberts, C. M. Roithmayr, F. Rose, S. Sandford, E. L. Shirley, W. L. Smith Sr., B. Soden, P. W. Speth, W. Sun, P. C. Taylor, D. Tobin, and X. Xiong, 2013: Achieving Climate Change Absolute Accuracy in Orbit. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 94, 1519–1539.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00149.1

Achieving Climate Change Absolute Accuracy in Orbit

Bruce A. Wielicki, D. F. Young, and M. G. Mlynczak

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

K. J. Thome

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

S. Leroy

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

J. Corliss

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

J. G. Anderson

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

C. O. Ao

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California

R. Bantges

Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

F. Best

University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

K. Bowman

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California

H. Brindley

Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

J. J. Butler

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

W. Collins

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California

J. A. Dykema

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

D. R. Doelling

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

D. R. Feldman

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California

N. Fox

National Physical Laboratory, London, United Kingdom

X. Huang

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

R. Holz

University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

Y. Huang

McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Z. Jin

Science Systems Applications, Hampton, Virginia

D. Jennings

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

D. G. Johnson

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

K. Jucks

NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

S. Kato

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

D. B. Kirk-Davidoff

University of Maryland, Greenbelt, Maryland

R. Knuteson

University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

G. Kopp

University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado

D. P. Kratz, X. Liu, and C. Lukashin

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

A. J. Mannucci

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California

N. Phojanamongkolkij

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

P. Pilewskie

University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado

V. Ramaswamy

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey

H. Revercomb

University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

J. Rice

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland

Y. Roberts

University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado

C. M. Roithmayr

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

F. Rose

Science Systems Applications, Hampton, Virginia

S. Sandford

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

E. L. Shirley

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland

W. L. Smith Sr.

University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

B. Soden

University of Miami, Miami, Florida

P. W. Speth

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

W. Sun

Science Systems Applications, Hampton, Virginia

P. C. Taylor

NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia

D. Tobin

University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

X. Xiong

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland


The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission will provide a calibration laboratory in orbit for the purpose of accurately measuring and attributing climate change. CLARREO measurements establish new climate change benchmarks with high absolute radiometric accuracy and high statistical confidence across a wide range of essential climate variables. CLARREO's inherently high absolute accuracy will be verified and traceable on orbit to Système Internationale (SI) units. The benchmarks established by CLARREO will be critical for assessing changes in the Earth system and climate model predictive capabilities for decades into the future as society works to meet the challenge of optimizing strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change. The CLARREO benchmarks are derived from measurements of the Earth's thermal infrared spectrum (5–50 μm), the spectrum of solar radiation reflected by the Earth and its atmosphere (320–2300 nm), and radio occultation refractivity from which accurate temperature profiles are derived. The mission has the ability to provide new spectral fingerprints of climate change, as well as to provide the first orbiting radiometer with accuracy sufficient to serve as the reference transfer standard for other space sensors, in essence serving as a “NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] in orbit.” CLARREO will greatly improve the accuracy and relevance of a wide range of space-borne instruments for decadal climate change. Finally, CLARREO has developed new metrics and methods for determining the accuracy requirements of climate observations for a wide range of climate variables and uncertainty sources. These methods should be useful for improving our understanding of observing requirements for most climate change observations.

Received: February 13, 2013

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Bruce A. Wielicki, Mail Stop 420, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, E-mail:

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