CloudSat as a Global Radar Calibrator

• Published in: Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
• Main Authors: Protat, Alain, Bouniol, Dominique, O'Connor, E. J., Klein Baltink, H., Verlinde, J., Widener, K.
• Other Authors: Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research (CAWCR), SPACE - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Groupe d'étude de l'atmosphère météorologique (CNRM-GAME), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Météo France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Reading (UOR), Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), PennState Meteorology Department, Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), Penn State System-Penn State System, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: Radar observations; Clouds; geo; envir; Arctic; Rasta; Barrow; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JTECHA1443.1; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00493275/file/%255B15200426%2520-%2520Journal%2520of%2520Atmospheric%2520and%2520Oceanic%2520Technology%255D%2520CloudSat%2520as%2520a%2520Global%2520Radar%2520Calibrator.pdf; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00493275

International audience The calibration of the CloudSat spaceborne cloud radar has been thoroughly assessed using very accurate internal link budgets before launch, comparisons with predicted ocean surface backscatter at 94 GHz, direct comparisons with airborne cloud radars, and statistical comparisons with ground-based cloud radars at different locations of the world. It is believed that the calibration of CloudSat is accurate to within 0.5 to 1 dB. In the present paper it is shown that an approach similar to that used for the statistical comparisons with ground-based radars can now be adopted the other way around to calibrate other ground-based or airborne radars against CloudSat and/or detect anomalies in long time series of ground-based radar measurements, provided that the calibration of CloudSat is followed up closely (which is the case). The power of using CloudSat as a Global Radar Calibrator is demonstrated using the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement cloud radar data taken at Barrow, Alaska, the cloud radar data from the Cabauw site, The Netherlands, and airborne Doppler cloud radar measurements taken along the CloudSat track in the Arctic by the RASTA (Radar SysTem Airborne) cloud radar installed in the French ATR-42 aircraft for the first time. It is found that the Barrow radar data in 2008 are calibrated too high by 9.8 dB, while the Cabauw radar data in 2008 are calibrated too low by 8.0 dB. The calibration of the RASTA airborne cloud radar using direct comparisons with CloudSat agrees well with the expected gains and losses due to the change in configuration which required verification of the RASTA calibration.