Synergies Obtained from Combined Observations of MISTiC Winds, CMIS, and NGRx in a Micro-Satellite Constellation
Improvements in our understanding of the development of severe weather systems and our ability to forecast these systems accurately requires improvements in both the temporal frequency and the three-dimensional spatial localization of space-based observations of the thermodynamic state and the vertically resolved wind fields in the troposphere. Three new observing methods developed under support from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office—MISTiC Winds1, CMIS2, and the Next generation Bistatic Radar Receiver3 (NGRx)—would separately provide one or more of these observation improvements in an affordable manner. MISTiC water vapor observations constrain the moisture and wind fields in cloud-free regions and above the clouds at high horizontal spatial resolution, CMIS observations provide exceptionally accurate wind observations at precise geometrically determined, cloud-top heights, and NGRx obtains ocean surface winds and latent/sensible heat fluxes regardless of cloud cover or precipitation conditions. Here we examine the additional, synergistic benefits of near-simultaneous, co-registered wind observations using these three methods together.
Observations from these instruments observing the same volume of atmosphere at (nearly) the same time provide a more complete set of constraints on the atmospheric thermodynamic and dynamic fields than flying them separately. The combination of MISTiC and CMIS radiance image observations would provide accurate cloud-top temperatures from hyperspectral radiances together with precise, geometrically determined cloud-top heights. Together, MISTiC Winds and CMIS contribute improvements to higher-level observations of meteorological significance, including wind shear and potential vorticity. Also, high horizontal spatial resolution low-level winds from MISTiC must be consistent with the surface winds from NGRx over a larger spatial footprint. All three instruments are small, low power, and are easily hosted together on an ESPA-class micro-satellite.
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