A Report on The Fifteenth International TOVS Study Conference

Maratea, Italy 4-10 October 2006

Conference sponsored by: IMAA / CNR

Met Office (U.K.) University of Wisconsin-Madison / SSEC NOAA NESDIS EUMETSAT World Meteorological Organization ITT Industries Kongsberg Spacetec CNES ABB Bomem Dimension Data LGR Impianti Cisco Systems and VCS

Report prepared by: Thomas Achtor and Roger Saunders ITWG Co-Chairs

Leanne Avila Maria Vasys Editors

Published and Distributed by: University of Wisconsin-Madison 1225 West Dayton Street Madison, WI 53706 USA

ITWG Web Site: http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/itwg/

February 2007

International TOVS Study Conference-XV Working Group Report

FOREWORD

The International TOVS Working Group (ITWG) is convened as a sub-group of the International Radiation Commission (IRC) of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics (IAMAP). The ITWG continues to organise International TOVS Study Conferences (ITSCs) which have met approximately every 18 months since 1983. Through this forum, operational and research users of TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS), Advanced TOVS (ATOVS) and other atmospheric sounding data have exchanged information on data processing methods, derived products, and the impacts of radiances and inferred atmospheric temperature and moisture fields on numerical weather prediction (NWP) and climate studies.

The Fifteenth International TOVS Study Conference (ITSC-XV) was held at the Villa del Mare near

Maratea, Italy from 4 to 10 October 2006. This conference report summarises the scientific exchanges and outcomes of the meeting. A companion document, The Technical Proceedings of The Fourteenth International TOVS Study Conference, contains the complete text of ITSC-XV scientific presentations. The ITWG Web site ( http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/itwg/ ) contains electronic versions of the conference presentations and publications. Together, these documents and Web pages reflect the conduct of a highly successful meeting in Maratea. An active and mature community of TOVS and ATOVS data users now exists, and considerable progress and positive results were reported at ITSC-XV in a number of areas, including many related to the ATOVS system, use of AIRS measurements, and to the other current and impending advanced sounders.

ITSC-XV was sponsored by industry, government agencies and a university, including, VCS

Engineering, CNES, Kongsberg Spacetec AS, ABB, ITT Industries, the Met Office (U.K.), the University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center, the World Meteorological Organization, EUMETSAT, and NOAA/NESDIS. The support of these groups is gratefully acknowledged. We wish to thank the local organising committee from the Italian National Research Council, Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (CNR/IMAA), located in Potenza, Basilicata, Italy, especially to Dr. Filomena Romano for her exceptional effort and talent in leading the local organization. Finally, appreciation is given to local sponsors, including Dimension Data, LGR Impianti, Cisco Systems, Basilicata Turistica, Provincia di Potenza and Regione Basilicata Assessorato Infrastrutture. ___________________ ___________________ Roger Saunders Thomas Achtor Co-Chair ITWG Co-Chair ITWG Met Office (U.K.) University of Wisconsin-Madison

International TOVS Study Conference-XV Working Group Report

THE FIFTEENTH INTERNATIONAL

International TOVS Study Conference-XV Working Group Report

TOVS STUDY CONFERENCE (ITSC-XV)

Maratea, Italy: 4 – 10 October 2006

International TOVS Working Group (ITWG) Co-Chairs Thomas Achtor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA Roger Saunders, Met Office, UK Organising Committee for ITSC-XV Thomas Achtor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA Roger Saunders, Met Office, UK Vincenzo Cuomo, IMAA/CNR, Italy Filomena Romano, IMAA/CNR, Italy Domenico Cimini, IMAA/CNR, Italy Enza Di Tomaso, IMAA/CNR, Italy John Palmer, IMAA/CNR, Italy Elisabetta Ricciardelli, IMAA/CNR, Italy Leanne Avila, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA Maria Vasys, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA ITSC-XV Participants Thomas Achtor CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison USA David Anselmo Canadian Meteorological Center Canada Paolo Antonelli CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison USA Jose Aravequia CPTEC/INPE Brazil Raymond Armante Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique France Nigel Atkinson Met Office UK Thomas Auligne ECMWF UK Leanne Avila CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison USA Nancy Baker Naval Research Laboratory USA John Bates NOAA/NCDC USA Alain Beaulne Canadian Meteorological Center Canada William Bell Met Office UK Ralf Bennartz AOS, University of Wisconsin-Madison USA Hal Bloom NOAA/NESDIS USA Denis Blumstein CNES France Niels Bormann ECMWF UK Sid Ahmed Boukabara IMSG @ NOAA/NESDIS/STAR USA Pascal Brunel MeteoFrance France Stefan Buehler Lulea Technical University Sweden William Campbell Naval Research Laboratory USA Brett Candy Met Office UK Zhaohui Cheng QSS Group Inc. USA Domenico Cimini IMAA-CNR Italy Andrew Collard ECMWF UK David Crain ITT USA Vincenzo Cuomo IMAA-CNR Italy Per Dahlgren Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute Sweden Luigi De Leonibus Italian Meteorological Service – USAM/Italian Air Force HQs Italy

International TOVS Study Conference-XV Working Group Report

Godelieve Deblonde Environment Canada Canada John Derber EMC/NCEP/NOAA USA Dezso Devenyi NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory USA Paolo Digirolamo Unibas Italy Frode Dinessen Kongsberg Spacetec AS Norway Enza Di Tomaso IMAA-CNR Italy Chaohua Dong NSMC, China Meteorological Administration China Marie DuMont WMO Switzerland Adam Dybbroe SMHI Sweden Izabela Dyras Institute of Meteorology and Water Management Poland Steve English Met Office UK Nadia Fourrie CNRM Meteo France France Louis Garand Meteorological Service of Canada Canada Alan Geer ECMWF UK Mitch Goldberg NOAA USA Giuseppe Grieco Unibas Italy Sylvain Heilliette Environment Canada Canada Dirceu Herdies CPTEC/INPE Brazil Fiona Hilton Met Office UK Sara Hörnquist SMHI Sweden Allen Huang CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison USA Bormin Huang CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison USA Nicole Jacquinet Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique France Anton Kaifel Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Germany Graeme Kelly ECMWF UK Thomas King QSS Group Inc USA Thomas Kleespies NOAA/NESDIS USA Tiphaine Labrot Meteo-France France Teodosio Lacava IMAA-CNR Italy Bjorn Lambrigtsen Jet Propulsion Laboratory USA Bozena Lapeta Institute of Meteorology and Water Management Poland Allen Larar NASA Langley USA Lydie Lavanant Meteo-France France Jun Li CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison USA Jian Liu WMO Switzerland Philippe Marguinaud Meteo-France France Marco Matricardi ECMWF UK Guido Masiello Unibas Italy Mark McCarthy Met Office, Hadley Centre UK Tony McNally ECMWF UK Yann Michel Meteo-France France Lotte Kroer Myrvoll Kongsberg Spacetec AS Norway Kozo Okamoto Japan Meteorological Agency Japan Paolo Pagano Italian Meteorological Service – USAM/Italian Air Force HQs Italy John Palmer IMAA-CNR Italy Ed Pavelin Met Office UK Eric Péquignot LMD/Ecole Polytechnique France Thierry Phulpin CNES France Jean Pla CNES France Nikita Pougatchev Space Dynamics Laboratory USA

International TOVS Study Conference-XV Working Group Report

Silvia Puca Dipartimento della Protezione Civile Italiana Italy Roger Randriamampianina Hungarian Meteorological Service Hungary Anthony Rea Australian Bureau of Meteorology Australia Tony Reale NOAA/NESDIS/STAR USA Elisabetta Ricciardelli IMAA-CNR Italy Yves Rochon Environment Canada Canada Filomena Romano IMAA-CNR Italy Benjamin Ruston Naval Research Laboratory USA Masami Sakamoto Japan Meteorological Agency Japan Roger Saunders Met Office UK Peter Schlüssel EUMETSAT Germany Nathalie Selbach Deutscher Wetterdienst Germany Carmine Serio DIFA – University of Basilicata Italy Devendra Singh Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India India Bill Smith Hampton University and University of Wisconsin-Madison USA Roberto Sorani Dipartimento della Protezione Civile Italiana Italy Rodrigo Souza CPTEC/INPE Brazil Martin Stengel SMHI Sweden Kathleen Strabala CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison USA Claudia Stubenrauch LMD France Steven Swadley Naval Research Laboratory USA Chris Tingwell Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre Australia Stephen Tjemkes EUMETSAT Germany David Shawn Turner Environment Canada Canada Alexander Uspensky SRC Planeta Roshydromet Russia Paul van Delst CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison USA Maria Vasys CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison USA Antonio Vocino Italian Meteorological Service – CNMCA/Italian Air Force Italy Fuzhong Weng NOAA/NESDIS/Office of Research and Applications USA Ed Westwater CIRES/University of Colorado at Boulder USA Peter Wilczynski NOAA/NPOESS Program Executive Office USA Walter Wolf QSS Group Inc. @ NOAA/NESDIS/STAR USA Jishan Xue CAMS, China Meteorological Administration China Banghua Yan NOAA/NESDIS/STAR USA Lihang Zhou QSS Group Inc. @ NOAA/NESDIS/STAR USA Cheng-Zhi Zou NOAA/NESDIS/STAR USA

International TOVS Study Conference-XV Working Group Report

The Fifteenth International TOVS Study Conference

4 – 10 October 2006

ITSC-XV Group Photo at Villa del Mare, Maratea, Italy

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 1

Actions and Recommendations 5

Working Group Reports 19 Radiative Transfer and Surface Property Modeling 19 TOVS/ATOVS Data in Climate 24 Use of TOVS/ATOVS in Data Assimilation/Numerical Weather Prediction 30 Advanced Sounders 38 International Issues and Future Systems 44 Satellite Sounder Science and Products 49

Reports of Technical Sub-Groups 55 ATOVS and AVHRR Processing Package 55 International ATOVS Processing Package 56 International MODIS/AIRS Processing Package 57 Fast Radiative Transfer Model, RTTOV 58 Community Radiative Transfer Model 59 Frequency Management 60

ITSC-XV Agenda 63

Abstracts of ITSC-XV Presentations 71

Appendix A: ITSC-XV Attendee Mailing List A-1 to A-9