A high-level cloud detection method utilizing the GOSAT TANSO-FTS water vapor saturated band

Abstract

A detection method for high-level clouds, such as ice clouds, is developed using the water vapor saturated channels of the solar reflected spectrum observed by the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) Thermal And Near-infrared Sensor for carbon Observation Fourier Transform Spectrometer (TANSO-FTS). The clouds detected by this method are optically relatively thin (0.01 or less) and located at high altitude. Approximately 85 % of the results from this method for clouds with cloud-top altitude above 5 km agree with the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) cloud classification. GOSAT has been operating since April 2009 with a 3-day repeat cycle for a pointwise geolocation pattern, providing a spectral data record that exceeds 9 years. Cloud information derived from GOSAT TANSO-FTS spectra could be powerful data for understanding the variability in cirrus cloud on temporal scales from synoptic to interannual.