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Processing and monitoring information


How IASI data is processed
 

Pre-processing

On receipt, IASI observations are pre-processed at the Met Office through the AAPP software. The data are thinned to one pixel in every four for each scan position, with the thinning selecting the observation believed to be the most likely to be cloud-free.

Forward modelling

The monitoring plots displayed on this site compare IASI observations with simulated brightness temperatures calculated using the appropriate 6hr forecast fields produced by the Met Office's global model and the RTTOV-7 fast radiative transfer model. Observations within 180 minutes either side of the analysis time are processed, and the forecast fields are interpolated to the observation time and location. These calculations are carried out in a processing stage (which includes a 1D-Var step) known as the Observation Processing System (OPS)

Channel selection

314 IASI channels, 15 AMSU-A and 5 MHS channels are processed together in OPS. The IASI channels were selected for use in NWP using the method described in Collard and Matricardi 2005 (Proceedings of ITWG14, Beijing). In the 314 channel set, 30 channels were selected for detailed monitoring:

CHANNEL SELECTION
314-set numbers
4 20 53 59 62 73 75 85
IASI numbers
51 92 179 205 212 242 246 280
Wave number
657.5 667.5 689.5 696.0 697.75 705.25 706.25 714.75

CHANNEL SELECTION
314-set numbers
96 97 98 108 122 170 171 178
IASI numbers
345 347 350 381 434 2239 2245 2289
Wave number
731.0 731.5 732.25 740.0 753.25 1204.5 1206.0 1367.0

CHANNEL SELECTION
314-set numbers
196 200 230 254 256 261 268
IASI numbers
3029 3053 3339 3522 3540 3582 3943
Wave number
1402.0 1408.0 1479.5 1525.25 1529.75 1540.25 1630.5

CHANNEL SELECTION
314-set numbers
270 295 296 297 298 299 307
IASI numbers
5130 6350 6463 6601 6962 6980 6997
Wave number
1927.25 2232.25 2260.5 2295.0 2385.25 2389.75 2394.0

From this 314 channel set, most channels are used in the 1D-Var processing step except for the ozone band, and Band 3 channels for day time observations. Only clear observations over sea are currently processed.

Cloud detection

Cloud detection is done currently on a per-field-of-view basis rather than a per-channel basis. Five channels are used in the cloud detection scheme which is based on the ATOVS scheme of English et al. 1999 (QJRMS 125 2359—2378.)

CLOUD DETECTION
314-set numbers
93 115 134 162 AMSU4
IASI numbers
345 416 867 1991  
Wave number
731.00 748.75 861.50 1142.50  

Bias correction

All observations are bias corrected before processing in 1D-Var. The correction currently consists of a different constant offset for each channel and each scan angle plus a linear function of the 850-300 hPa thickness and 200-50 hPa thickness, with different coefficients for each channel. The coefficients are static and updated periodically as required depending on model or data assimilation changes and any drifts detected with the monitoring plots.

Land/sea/ice mask

A surface type is assigned to observations during pre-processing in AAPP based on a 1/6° dataset. This is compared to the global model land/sea mask and an estimate of the surface type derived from AMSU data, and where there is a mismatch, the most conservative channel combination is used (in the case of IASI, this means rejection). Sea Ice is identified using the model sea ice field, with the AMSU surface type used to identify likly mismatches as with the land/sea definition.

Quality control

Not all of the observations included in the monitoring plots are actually processed in 4D-Var. All observations with a valid background calculation are included in the monitoring plots (or all observations with a valid retrieval). For data assimilation purposes, observations are rejected for many reasons, ranging from the profile going out of the bounds of validity of the forward model or failure to converge on a solution, to the retrieved profile not adequately fitting the observation.

Thinning

Observations are subject to thinning during OPS before processing in 4D-Var, but the plots on this site are of the data before these thinning steps are applied.

Aggregation of data for monitoring purposes

The data are aggregated into 5°x15° lat-lon boxes over land, sea and sea-ice separately, and for night-clear, night-cloudy, day-clear and day-cloudy situations. The scan position information is aggregated into 5° latitude bands and for each surface type separately, combining all clear observations.

No information on individual observations is retained in these monitoring files, and there is no information available on rejection statistics.

Initally the stats will only update once per day, i.e., will be four cycles combined. It is possible this will be increased to four times per day in the future. The global map plots are produced once per week, for a week's worth of aggregated data.

 
Definitions
 
This section defines some of the parameters which are displayed in the monitoring plots.
  • Channel numbers

    Although IASI has 8461 channels, we are neither using nor monitoring all of these. Some plots are produced for a subset of 314 channels, selected for use in NWP using the method described in Collard and Matricardi 2005 (Proceedings of ITWG 14, Beijing). In the 314 channel set, 15 channels were selected for detailed monitoring. The channel numbers indicated in the drop down menus are from 1 to 314 and constitude number within the NWP channel selection. For plots for individual channels, in brackets after this number you will find the IASI instrument channel number (from 1 to 8431) and the central wave number of the channel.

  • Observed (0)

    The equivalent black body brightness temperature inferred from the radiance at a given frequency.

  • Corrected (C)

    These are the bias corrected Observed brightness temperatures. The aim of the bias correction is to remove systematic differences between the Observed and Background radiances. The correction currently consists of a different constant offset for each channel and each scan position plus a linear function of the 850-300 hPa thickness and 200-50 hPa thickness, with different coefficients for each channel.

  • Background (B)

    The brightness temperature at a given frequency computed from the six hour forecast model background profile (this model background is used as the first-guess field in the subsequent 3D variational data assimilation stage).

  • Retrieved (R)

    The best estimate of the brightness temperature of the atmosphere at a specific location and frequency using both the model background and the observations. It is the result of a 1D variational minimisation carried out during the observation processing stage.

 
Monitoring plots
 

The following table gives details of the currently available monitoring plots which are produced on a daily/weekly basis for IASI data quality monitoring.

N.B. Your browser must support javascript and javascript must be enabled in order to use the interface.

Which statistics are plotted?

In most cases the mean or standard deviation plots will display with a number of observations plot below. Number of observations plots are not displayed on their own and are not available from the drop-down menu. In the case of time series and scan position plots, mean and standard deviation are displayed together on the same plot.

Scan position plots

The four IASI pixels for each of the 30 scan angles are combined together. Corrected - Retrieved statistics are not available for scan position plots.

MONITORING PLOTS
Plot type
Description
Cloud/surf/latband combinations
Statistics
Time series
Channels
Plot updated
Data aggregated
Global map 5°x15° lat-lon boxes, coloured by data value Day-clear, Night-clear, All-clear, All-clear+cloudy
Sea, All Surfaces
Mean and SD of O-B, C-B, C-R
Number of Obs
  15 Monitoring chans; Separate plots Weekly Weekly
Hovmoeller 5° latitude boxes on y-axis (zonal mean field), timeseries on x-axis, coloured by data value Day-clear, Night-clear, All-clear, All-clear+cloudy
All Surfaces
Mean and SD of O-B, C-B, C-R
Number of Obs
One Month 15 Monitoring chans; Separate plots Daily Daily
Spectrum Mean/SD across all obs plotted as a spectrum Day-clear, Night-clear, All-clear, All-clear+cloudy
All Obs - 5 Lat bands plus Global, Sea Obs only - Global
Mean and SD of O-B, C-B, C-R   314; One plot Daily Daily
DNA plot Channel number on y-axis, Timeseries on x-axis, coloured by data value Day-clear, Night-clear, All-clear, All-clear+cloudy
All Obs - 5 Lat bands plus Global, Sea Obs only - Global
Mean and SD of O-B, C-B, C-R One Month 314 ; One plot Daily Daily
Time series Mean/SD across all obs plotted as a time series Day-clear, Night-clear, All-clear, All-clear+cloudy
All Obs - 5 Lat bands plus Global, Sea Obs only - Global
Mean and SD of O-B, C-B, C-R
Number of Obs
One Month 15 Monitoring chans; 5 chans per plot Daily Daily
Scan position Mean/SD across all obs plotted against scan position Day-clear, Night-clear, All-clear, All-clear+cloudy
All Obs - 5 Lat bands plus Global, Sea Obs only - Global
Mean and SD of O-B, C-B
Number of Obs
  15 Monitoring chans; Separate plots Daily Daily
Summary Channel number on y-axis, Timeseries on x-axis, coloured by data value, large deviations flagged Day-clear, Night-clear, All-clear, All-clear+cloudy
All Obs - 5 Lat bands plus Global, Sea Obs only - Global
Abs(Mean /SD) One Month 314; One plot Daily Daily
 
Significant dates
 

Please see the list of recent occurences to see known data outages and processing changes.