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Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Seamless Advective Blending of Total Precipitable Water Retrievals from Polar-Orbiting Satellites

Anthony J. Wimmers1 and Christopher S. Velden1
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  • 1 Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
Print Publication:
01 May 2011
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JAMC2589.1
Page(s):
1024–1036
Restricted access

Abstract

Conventional methods of viewing and combining retrieved geophysical fields from polar-orbiting satellites often complicate the work of end users because of the erratic time differences between overpasses, the significant time gaps between elements of a composite image, or simply the different requirements for interpretation between contributing instruments. However, it is possible to mitigate these issues for any number of retrieved quantities in which the tracer lifetime exceeds the sampling time. This paper presents a method that uses “advective blending” to create high-fidelity composites of data from polar-orbiting satellites at high temporal resolution, including a characterization of error as a function of time gap between satellite overpasses. The method is especially effective for tracers with lifetimes of longer than 7 h. Examples are presented using microwave-based retrievals of total precipitable water (TPW) over the ocean, from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Morphed Integrated Microwave Imagery at CIMSS TPW product (MIMIC-TPW). The mean average error of a global 0.25° × 0.25° product at 1-h resolution is 0.5–2 mm, which is very reasonable for most applications.

Supplemental information related to this paper is available at the Journals Online Web site.

Corresponding author address: Anthony J. Wimmers, CIMSS, 1225 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706. E-mail: wimmers@ssec.wisc.edu

Abstract

Conventional methods of viewing and combining retrieved geophysical fields from polar-orbiting satellites often complicate the work of end users because of the erratic time differences between overpasses, the significant time gaps between elements of a composite image, or simply the different requirements for interpretation between contributing instruments. However, it is possible to mitigate these issues for any number of retrieved quantities in which the tracer lifetime exceeds the sampling time. This paper presents a method that uses “advective blending” to create high-fidelity composites of data from polar-orbiting satellites at high temporal resolution, including a characterization of error as a function of time gap between satellite overpasses. The method is especially effective for tracers with lifetimes of longer than 7 h. Examples are presented using microwave-based retrievals of total precipitable water (TPW) over the ocean, from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Morphed Integrated Microwave Imagery at CIMSS TPW product (MIMIC-TPW). The mean average error of a global 0.25° × 0.25° product at 1-h resolution is 0.5–2 mm, which is very reasonable for most applications.

Supplemental information related to this paper is available at the Journals Online Web site.

Corresponding author address: Anthony J. Wimmers, CIMSS, 1225 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706. E-mail: wimmers@ssec.wisc.edu

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