On the verification of the quality of SABER temperature, geopotential height, and wind fields by comparison with Met Office assimilated analyses

Abstract

[1] The Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) experiment on the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics satellite has delivered over 1 year of radiance profile data from which middle atmosphere temperature profiles have been retrieved. Version 1.01 temperatures are precise and sufficiently accurate, such that one can obtain estimates of their synoptic distributions on pressure surfaces. A sequential estimation algorithm was used to generate daily, zonal Fourier coefficients of temperature (through zonal wave number 6), and maps on constant pressure surfaces were generated using those coefficients. Maps of temperature, geopotential height, and geostrophic winds are compared with products from the Met Office analyses. Stratospheric differences are within about 2 K for temperature and 160 m for geopotential height. The respective wind fields indicate flow patterns that are similar. Examples of the fields are shown for a period in February 2002 during a sudden stratospheric warming event that occurred in the Northern Hemisphere. A cooling of the middle mesosphere accompanies the warming. It is anticipated that large-scale, middle atmospheric dynamics and transport studies can be undertaken and that data assimilation products can be extended to near the mesopause using the SABER profiles.

Variability of MLT winds and waves over mid-latitude during the 2000/2001 and 2009/2010 winter stratospheric sudden warming

“…The method was similar to what Xiao et al (2008) and Remsberg et al (2003) did in their papers. The main formulas are as follows:…”

The 5-8-Day Kelvin and Rossby Waves in the Tropics as Revealed by Ground and Satellite-Based Observations

“…The SABER can be described briefly as a 10-channel broad-band limb-viewing, infrared radiometer that has been measuring stratospheric and mesospheric temperatures, mainly from the 15-μm radiation of CO 2 , since the launch of the TIMED satellite. The data retrieval methods and their validation are described in Ramsberg et al (2003). The TIDI is basically a Fabry-Perot interferometer with a CCD detector, which primarily measures horizontal vector winds from the Earth's limb, with a vertical resolution of 2.5 km and an accuracy that approaches approximately 3 m s -1 under optimum viewing conditions.…”

Observations of the 7-day Kelvin Wave in the Tropical Atmosphere During the CPEA Campaign

“…The SABER is a 10-channel broadband limb-viewing, infrared radiometer, which has been measuring stratospheric and mesospheric temperatures, mainly from the 15-mm radiation of CO 2 , since the launch of TIMED satellite. The data retrieval and validation are described by Ramsberg et al (2003).…”