EOS Validation Program

Institution: University of Miami
                    4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
                    Miami, FL 33149-1098
Phone: (305) 361-4104
FAX: (305) 361-4104
E-mail: augustin@srrb.noaa.gov

Steven A. Ackerman, University of Wisconsin-Madison

February 2003
April 2004

A state-of-the-art instrument will be used on long, trans-oceanic research cruises to make measurement of the sea-surface skin temperature (SST), boundary-layer meteorology and atmospheric state for the validation of AIRS and AMSR-E geophysical data. In addition to the directly measured SST, surface winds, atmospheric profiles of temperature and humidity, atmospheric columnar water vapor and rainfall, which can be compared to the AIRS and AMSR-E retrievals, measurements of the atmospheric and oceanic state will be used with an accurate radiative transfer model to derive top-of-atmosphere radiances for comparison with AIRS measurements. The equipment to be used has been deployed successfully on several research cruises ranging from the tropics to the Arctic. The use of ships will provide measurements in the full range of global environmental variability that is required for a convincing and meaningful validation of the satellite-derived variables. The ships will be used on an opportunistic basis, thereby avoiding very costly ship charges. The validation activities complement those being undertaken by the AIRS and AMSR-E Instrument Teams.