Intercomparison of Surface Temperatures from AIRS, MERRA, and MERRA-2 with NOAA and GC-Net Weather Stations at Summit, Greenland
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Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2018-05-01
Type of Work
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Citation of Original Publication
Hearty, Thomas J., III, Jae N. Lee, Dong L. Wu, Richard Cullather, John M. Blaisdell, Joel Susskind, and Sophie M. J. Nowicki. " Intercomparison of Surface Temperatures from AIRS, MERRA, and MERRA-2 with NOAA and GC-Net Weather Stations at Summit, Greenland", Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 57, 5 (2018): 1231-1245, accessed Feb 22, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-17-0216.1
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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
Public Domain Mark 1.0
Public Domain Mark 1.0
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Abstract
The surface skin and air temperatures reported by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AIRS/AMSU-A), the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), and MERRA-2 at Summit, Greenland, are compared with near-surface air temperatures measured at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net) weather stations. The AIRS/AMSU-A surface skin temperature (TS) is best correlated with the NOAA 2-m air temperature (T2M) but tends to be colder than the station measurements. The difference may be the result of the frequent near-surface temperature inversions in the region. The AIRS/AMSU-A surface air temperature (SAT) is also correlated with the NOAA T2M but has a warm bias during the cold season and a larger standard error than the surface temperature. The extrapolation of the temperature profile to calculate the AIRS SAT may not be valid for the strongest inversions. The GC-Net temperature sensors are not held at fixed heights throughout the year; however, they are typically closer to the surface than the NOAA station sensors. Comparing the lapse rates at the two stations shows that it is larger closer to the surface. The difference between the AIRS/AMSU-A SAT and TS is sensitive to near-surface inversions and tends to measure stronger inversions than both stations. The AIRS/AMSU-A may be sampling a thicker layer than either station. The MERRA-2 surface and near-surface temperatures show improvements over MERRA but little sensitivity to near-surface temperature inversions.