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Achieving Climate Change Absolute Accuracy in OrbitThe Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission will provide a calibration laboratory in orbit for the purpose of accurately measuring and attributing climate change. CLARREO measurements establish new climate change benchmarks with high absolute radiometric accuracy and high statistical confidence across a wide range of essential climate variables. CLARREO's inherently high absolute accuracy will be verified and traceable on orbit to Système Internationale (SI) units. The benchmarks established by CLARREO will be critical for assessing changes in the Earth system and climate model predictive capabilities for decades into the future as society works to meet the challenge of optimizing strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change. The CLARREO benchmarks are derived from measurements of the Earth's thermal infrared spectrum (5-50 micron), the spectrum of solar radiation reflected by the Earth and its atmosphere (320-2300 nm), and radio occultation refractivity from which accurate temperature profiles are derived. The mission has the ability to provide new spectral fingerprints of climate change, as well as to provide the first orbiting radiometer with accuracy sufficient to serve as the reference transfer standard for other space sensors, in essence serving as a "NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] in orbit." CLARREO will greatly improve the accuracy and relevance of a wide range of space-borne instruments for decadal climate change. Finally, CLARREO has developed new metrics and methods for determining the accuracy requirements of climate observations for a wide range of climate variables and uncertainty sources. These methods should be useful for improving our understanding of observing requirements for most climate change observations.
Document ID
20140005478
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Wielicki, Bruce A.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Young, D. F.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Mlynczak, M. G.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Thome, K. J
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Leroy, S.
(Harvard Univ. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Corliss, J.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Anderson, J. G.
(Harvard Univ. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Ao, C. O.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Bantges, R.
(Imperial Coll. of London London, United Kingdom)
Best, F.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Bowman, K.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Brindley, H.
(Imperial Coll. of London London, United Kingdom)
Butler, J. J.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Collins, W.
(California Univ., Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Dykema, J. A.
(Harvard Univ. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Doelling, D. R.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Feldman, D. R.
(California Univ., Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Fox, N.
(National Physical Lab. London, United Kingdom)
Huang, X.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Holz, R.
(Wisconsin Univ. Madison, WI, United States)
Huang, Y.
(McGill Univ. Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Jennings, D.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Jin, Z.
(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Hampton, VA, United States)
Johnson, D. G.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Jucks, K.
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Kato, S.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Kratz, D. P.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Liu, X.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Lukashin, C.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Mannucci, A. J.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Phojanamongkolkij, N.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Roithmayr, C. M.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Sandford, S.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Taylor, P. C.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Xiong, X.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
May 12, 2014
Publication Date
October 1, 2013
Publication Information
Publication: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Volume: 94
Issue: 10
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Meteorology And Climatology
Report/Patent Number
NF1676L-17907
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 304029.01.04.02.02.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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