Cloud Remote Sensing
The Cloud Remote Sensing
Group at AER operates within the Environmental Programs section
of the Science Application and Programs Division. Group efforts
are directed toward development and implementation of algorithms
for analysis of environmental satellite data in operational and
semi-operational ground processing environments. Research activities
are primarily focused on inverse techniques for retrieval of spatial,
radiative and microphysical properties of the Earth and its atmosphere
from multispectral sensor data. Emphasis is on real data applications
of the research algorithms in order to validate their broad applicability
to existing and planned remote sensing systems capable of providing
global and/or regional coverage. To support this work the group
jointly operates and maintains a system of direct-broadcast satellite
receiving stations with the Air Force Research Laboratory
in Bedford, Massachusetts. Ground Systems also works closely with
other groups at AER to exploit the extensive atmospheric modeling
capabilities and expertise within the company for simulation of
radiometrically-correct test scene data. Modeled scene data are
used for controlled assessment of retrieval algorithm performance
and for evaluation of their applicability with planned future
satellite-based observing systems.
Current projects within the group include a major program to replace
and upgrade the operational global cloud analysis and forecasting
capabilities of the United States Air Force at the Air Force Weather
Agency outside Omaha, Nebraska. This program, known as the Cloud
Depiction and Forecast System - Version II (CDFS-II), will continue
the 30-year record of continuous global operations with new science
algorithms to process global-coverage data from the Defense
Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N program.
CDFS-II will also add the capability to process data from the
international constellation of geostationary
environmental satellites operated by the United States, Europe,
and Japan.
Other group activities include development of cloud and aerosol
property retrieval algorithms for the next generation of U. S.
environmental satellites under the National
Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS); adaptation
of a direct radiance assimilation algorithm for the Penn State/National
Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) MM5 model to operate in
a massively parallel computing environment; with the EarthSat
Corporation to provide global forecasts of cloud location and
extent in support of mission planning activities for Earth remote
sensing satellites; and development of an X-based software tool
known as Multispectral Image Viewer
(MSIV) to provide interactive visualization, manipulation, and
quick-analysis capabilities for use in interactive interpretation
and quantification of satellite imagery.
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