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
Co-Chair ITWG
Met Office (U.K.)
___________________
Thomas Achtor
Co-Chair ITWG
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
David Anselmo
Paolo Antonelli
Jose Aravequia
Raymond Armante
Nigel Atkinson
Thomas Auligne
Leanne Avila
Nancy Baker
John Bates
Alain Beaulne
William Bell
Ralf Bennartz
Hal Bloom
Denis Blumstein
Niels Bormann
Sid Ahmed Boukabara
Pascal Brunel
Stefan Buehler
William Campbell
Brett Candy
Zhaohui Cheng
Domenico Cimini
Andrew Collard
David Crain
Vincenzo Cuomo
Per Dahlgren
Luigi De Leonibus
CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison
Canadian Meteorological Center
CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison
CPTEC/INPE
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique
Met Office
ECMWF
CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison
Naval Research Laboratory
NOAA/NCDC
Canadian Meteorological Center
Met Office
AOS, University of Wisconsin-Madison
NOAA/NESDIS
CNES
ECMWF
IMSG @ NOAA/NESDIS/STAR
MeteoFrance
Lulea Technical University
Naval Research Laboratory
Met Office
QSS Group Inc.
IMAA-CNR
ECMWF
ITT
IMAA-CNR
Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute
Italian Meteorological Service – USAM/Italian Air Force HQs
USA
Canada
USA
Brazil
France
UK
UK
USA
USA
USA
Canada
UK
USA
USA
France
UK
USA
France
Sweden
USA
UK
USA
Italy
UK
USA
Italy
Sweden
Italy
International TOVS Study Conference-XV Working Group Report
Godelieve Deblonde
John Derber
Dezso Devenyi
Paolo Digirolamo
Frode Dinessen
Enza Di Tomaso
Chaohua Dong
Marie DuMont
Adam Dybbroe
Izabela Dyras
Steve English
Nadia Fourrie
Louis Garand
Alan Geer
Mitch Goldberg
Giuseppe Grieco
Sylvain Heilliette
Dirceu Herdies
Fiona Hilton
Sara Hörnquist
Allen Huang
Bormin Huang
Nicole Jacquinet
Anton Kaifel
Graeme Kelly
Thomas King
Thomas Kleespies
Tiphaine Labrot
Teodosio Lacava
Bjorn Lambrigtsen
Bozena Lapeta
Allen Larar
Lydie Lavanant
Jun Li
Jian Liu
Philippe Marguinaud
Marco Matricardi
Guido Masiello
Mark McCarthy
Tony McNally
Yann Michel
Lotte Kroer Myrvoll
Kozo Okamoto
Paolo Pagano
John Palmer
Ed Pavelin
Eric Péquignot
Thierry Phulpin
Jean Pla
Nikita Pougatchev
Environment Canada
EMC/NCEP/NOAA
NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
Unibas
Kongsberg Spacetec AS
IMAA-CNR
NSMC, China Meteorological Administration
WMO
SMHI
Institute of Meteorology and Water Management
Met Office
CNRM Meteo France
Meteorological Service of Canada
ECMWF
NOAA
Unibas
Environment Canada
CPTEC/INPE
Met Office
SMHI
CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison
CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique
Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research
ECMWF
QSS Group Inc
NOAA/NESDIS
Meteo-France
IMAA-CNR
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Institute of Meteorology and Water Management
NASA Langley
Meteo-France
CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison
WMO
Meteo-France
ECMWF
Unibas
Met Office, Hadley Centre
ECMWF
Meteo-France
Kongsberg Spacetec AS
Japan Meteorological Agency
Italian Meteorological Service – USAM/Italian Air Force HQs
IMAA-CNR
Met Office
LMD/Ecole Polytechnique
CNES
CNES
Space Dynamics Laboratory
Canada
USA
USA
Italy
Norway
Italy
China
Switzerland
Sweden
Poland
UK
France
Canada
UK
USA
Italy
Canada
Brazil
UK
Sweden
USA
USA
France
Germany
UK
USA
USA
France
Italy
USA
Poland
USA
France
USA
Switzerland
France
UK
Italy
UK
UK
France
Norway
Japan
Italy
Italy
UK
France
France
France
USA
International TOVS Study Conference-XV Working Group Report
Silvia Puca
Roger Randriamampianina
Anthony Rea
Tony Reale
Elisabetta Ricciardelli
Yves Rochon
Filomena Romano
Benjamin Ruston
Masami Sakamoto
Roger Saunders
Peter Schlüssel
Nathalie Selbach
Carmine Serio
Devendra Singh
Bill Smith
Roberto Sorani
Rodrigo Souza
Martin Stengel
Kathleen Strabala
Claudia Stubenrauch
Steven Swadley
Chris Tingwell
Stephen Tjemkes
David Shawn Turner
Alexander Uspensky
Paul van Delst
Maria Vasys
Antonio Vocino
Fuzhong Weng
Ed Westwater
Peter Wilczynski
Walter Wolf
Jishan Xue
Banghua Yan
Lihang Zhou
Cheng-Zhi Zou
Dipartimento della Protezione Civile Italiana
Hungarian Meteorological Service
Australian Bureau of Meteorology
NOAA/NESDIS/STAR
IMAA-CNR
Environment Canada
IMAA-CNR
Naval Research Laboratory
Japan Meteorological Agency
Met Office
EUMETSAT
Deutscher Wetterdienst
DIFA – University of Basilicata
Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India
Hampton University and University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dipartimento della Protezione Civile Italiana
CPTEC/INPE
SMHI
CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison
LMD
Naval Research Laboratory
Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre
EUMETSAT
Environment Canada
SRC Planeta Roshydromet
CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison
CIMSS/University of Wisconsin-Madison
Italian Meteorological Service – CNMCA/Italian Air Force
NOAA/NESDIS/Office of Research and Applications
CIRES/University of Colorado at Boulder
NOAA/NPOESS Program Executive Office
QSS Group Inc. @ NOAA/NESDIS/STAR
CAMS, China Meteorological Administration
NOAA/NESDIS/STAR
QSS Group Inc. @ NOAA/NESDIS/STAR
NOAA/NESDIS/STAR
Italy
Hungary
Australia
USA
Italy
Canada
Italy
USA
Japan
UK
Germany
Germany
Italy
India
USA
Italy
Brazil
Sweden
USA
France
USA
Australia
Germany
Canada
Russia
USA
USA
Italy
USA
USA
USA
USA
China
USA
USA
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
TOVS/ATOVS Data in Climate
Use of TOVS/ATOVS in Data Assimilation/Numerical Weather Prediction
Advanced Sounders
International Issues and Future Systems
Satellite Sounder Science and Products
Reports of Technical Sub-Groups
ATOVS and AVHRR Processing Package
International ATOVS Processing Package
International MODIS/AIRS Processing Package
Fast Radiative Transfer Model, RTTOV
Community Radiative Transfer Model
Frequency Management
19
24
30
38
44
49
55
55
56
57
58
59
60
ITSC-XV Agenda
63
Abstracts of ITSC-XV Presentations
71
Appendix A: ITSC-XV Attendee Mailing List
A-1 to A-9