Search results for "HTN"

Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM): State of the Art

2014

Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) mission is an ESA pay load which will be installed in the Columbus module of the International Space Station (ISS). ASIM is optimized to the observation and monitoring of luminescent phenomena in the upper atmosphere, the so called Transient Luminous Event (TLEs) and Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes(TGFs). Both TLEs and TGFs have been discovered recently (past two decades) and opened a new field of research in high energetic phenomena in the atmosphere. We will review the capabilities of ASIM and how it will help researchers to gain deeper knowledge of TGFs, TLEs, their inter-relationship and how they are linked to severe thunderstorms and the pheno…

On the atmospheric dependence of the split-window equation for land surface temperature

1994

Abstract A split-window equation is derived for land surface temperature, yielding T = T4 + A(T4 − T5) + B(e), where T is the true surface temperature, T4 and T5 are the brightness temperatures measured in AVHRR channels 4 and 5, A is a coefficient related to the atmospheric transmittances in AVHRR channels 4 and 5, being dependent on the atmosphere type and independent on surface emissivity, and B(e) takes into account the emissivity effect, which depends on both the channel surface emissivities (e4 and e5) and the atmosphere type. The atmospheric dependence of split-window coefficients, A and B(e), is discussed by means of satellite measurements simulations and in situ data. It is shown t…

Assessment of the SMAP Level-4 Surface and Root-Zone Soil Moisture Product Using In Situ Measurements

2017

International audience; The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission Level-4 Surface and Root-Zone Soil Moisture (L4_SM) data product is generated by assimilating SMAP L-band brightness temperature observations into the NASA Catchment land surface model. The L4_SM product is available from 31 March 2015 to present (within 3 days from real time) and provides 3-hourly, global, 9-km resolution estimates of surface (0-5 cm) and root-zone (0-100 cm) soil moisture and land surface conditions. This study presents an overview of the L4_SM algorithm, validation approach, and product assessment versus in situ measurements. Core validation sites provide spatially averaged surface (root zone) soil m…

2018

Abstract. Detailed measurements of radiation, atmospheric and aerosol properties were carried out in summer 2013 during the Aerosol Direct Radiative Impact on the regional climate in the MEDiterranean region (ADRIMED) campaign in the framework of the Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment (ChArMEx) experiment. This study focusses on the characterization of infrared (IR) optical properties and direct radiative effects of mineral dust, based on three vertical profiles of atmospheric and aerosol properties and IR broadband and narrowband radiation from airborne measurements, made in conjunction with radiosonde and ground-based observations at Lampedusa, in the central Mediterranean. Satell…

Blue Optical Observations of Narrow Bipolar Events by ASIM Suggest Corona Streamer Activity in Thunderstorms

2020

While narrow bipolar events (NBEs) could be related with lightning initiation, their intrinsic physics remains in question. Here we report on optical measurements by the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) on the International Space Station (ISS) of blue flashes associated with NBEs. They are observed in a narrow blue band centered at 337 nm, with no simultaneous activity at 777.4 nm, considered a strong lightning emission line. From radio waves measured from the ground, we find that 7 of 10 single-pulse blue events can be identified as positive NBEs. The source altitudes estimated from optical and radio signals agree and indicate that the sources of the blue flashes are located be…

High-speed intensified video recordings of sprites and elves over the western Mediterranean Sea during winter thunderstorms

2010

We report the first intensified high‐speed video images of elves, sprites, and halos observed in Europe. All the events corresponded to winter season thunderstorms over the Mediterranean Sea. The observations comprise many elves generated by both cloud‐to‐ground lightning current polarities. In 8 of the 14 sprite observations we observed an elve previous to the sprite. In three cases we observed also an elve quickly followed by a halo and a sprite. In several observations we observed lightning light before the mesospheric transient luminous event. We present a case where the lightning from cloud tops was visible during the entire event. Thanks to the high‐speed videos and their resolution a…

Observationally Weak TGFs in the RHESSI Data

2019

Abstract Terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs) are sub‐millisecond bursts of high energetic gamma radiation associated with intracloud flashes in thunderstorms. In this paper we use the simultaneity of lightning detections by World Wide Lightning Location Network to find TGFs in the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) data that are too faint to be identified by standard search algorithms. A similar approach has been used in an earlier paper, but here we expand the data set to include all years of RHESSI + World Wide Lightning Location Network data and show that there is a population of observationally weak TGFs all the way down to 0.22 of the RHESSI detection thresh…

Temperature-based and radiance-based validations of the V5 MODIS land surface temperature product

2009

[1] The V5 level 2 land surface temperature (LST) product of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was validated over homogeneous rice fields in Valencia, Spain, and the Hainich forest in Germany. For the Valencia site, ground LST measurements were compared with the MOD11_L2 product in the conventional temperature-based (T-based) method. We also applied the alternative radiance-based (R-based) method, with in situ LSTs calculated from brightness temperatures in band 31 through radiative transfer simulations using temperature and water vapor profiles and surface emissivity data. At the Valencia site, profiles were obtained from local radiosonde measurements and from Natio…

A spatially consistent downscaling approach for SMOS using an adaptive window

2017

The European Space Agency (ESA)'s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) is the first spaceborne mission using L-band radiometry to monitor the Earth's global surface soil moisture (SM). After more than 7 years in orbit, many studies have contributed to improve the quality and applicability of SMOS-derived SM maps. In this research, a novel downscaling algorithm for SMOS is proposed to obtain high-resolution (HR) SM maps at 1 km (L4), from the ∼40 km native resolution of the instrument. This algorithm introduces the concept of a shape adaptive moving window as an improvement of the current semi-empirical downscaling approach at SMOS Barcelona Expert Center, based on the “universal triangle…

Observation of Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes at Mid Latitude

2021

We present a sample of Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) observed at mid latitudes by the Atmosphere Space Interaction Monitor (ASIM). The events were detected between June 2018 and August 2020 in the latitude bands between 35° and 51° in both hemispheres, which we hereafter refer to as “mid latitudes.” The sample includes the first observations above urn:x-wiley:2169897X:media:jgrd57293:jgrd57293-math-0001 and consists of 14 events clustered in four geographical regions: north-west Atlantic and eastern USA; Mediterranean Sea; the ocean around South Africa; and north-eastern China and Siberia. We examine the characteristics of each event, both standalone and in the context of the global …