Meetings: Documents

Roughness Correction for AQ SSS Algorithm Using MWR
[12-Nov-2013] Jones, L. and Hejazin, Y.
Presented at the 2013 Aquarius/SAC-D Science Team Meeting
This paper presents an alternative independent approach for the AQ roughness correction, which is derived using simultaneous measurements from the CONAE Microwave Radiometer (MWR). For the majority of ocean wind speeds, the ocean excess emissivity (Δεexcess) provided by the radiative transfer models (RTM) is reasonably well understood given a measurement of ocean surface wind vector. Scatterometer ocean normalized cross section measurements provide an alternative empirical approach to correct for the roughness error in salinity measurements. The MWR provides a third complementary semi-empirical approach by measuring the excess ocean emissivity at 36.5 GHz and applying RTM (improved ocean surface emissivity model) to translate this to the AQ 1.4 GHz frequency. This RTM will be validated using a one-year of AQ dataset using L-band surface brightness temperatures and SSS retrievals, on-orbit MWR brightness measurements, and actual AQ Validation Data System (AVDS) buoy SSS measurement collocations. Simulated roughness errors will be introduced and techniques to characterize these errors will be evaluated. A prototype MWR roughness correction algorithm will be described and results presented, which illustrate the effect of applying the roughness correction algorithm on salinity retrievals. View poster here.

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