ESA-JAXA Pre-Launch EarthCARE Science and Validation Workshop
13-17 November 2023, ESA-ESRIN, Frascati (Rome), Italy
www.eumetsat.int

An overview of the use ofEarthCARE products within the
EUMETSAT validation facility for
Level 2 Cloud and Aerosol
products

Alessio Bozzo* , Loredana Spezzi** ,Julien Chimot, Bertrand Fougnie, Pepe Phillips,
Margarita Vazquez-Navarro*Alessio.Bozzo@eumetsat.int** Loredana.Spezzi@eumetsat.int

EUMETSAT - Remote Sensing & Products
division-Clouds & Aerosols Competence Area
EUM/RSP/DOC/23/1386018, v1 Draft, 8 November 2023

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EUMETSAT missions and operational requirementswww.eumetsat.int

EUMETSAT provides operational
atmospheric products, which
implies:▪ Reliability: more than 99% - 24/7
▪ Timeliness: Near Real Timedissemination from sensing time➢100 to 150min for LEO➢20min for GEO▪ Quality control▪ Continuity over the mission
lifetime: maintenance oftimeliness, quality standards, etc.
▪ Consistency between the differentsystems▪ Maintenance of the accuracy of
the retrieved geophysicalparameters within user
requirements (globally, day/night,all season, all surfaces, entire
mission lifetime)
EUM/RSP/DOC/23/1386018, v1 Draft, 8 November 2023

Some cloud and aerosol products at EUM Satellite Application Facilities:
Nowcasting (NWC-SAF), Climate Monitoring (CM-SAF) andAtmospheric Composition (AC-SAF)

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Cloud Product map (missions & products)
www.eumetsat.int

EUM/RSP/DOC/23/1386018, v1 Draft, 8 November 2023

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Aerosol Product Map (missions & products)
www.eumetsat.int

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Validation strategy, facility and reference data
www.eumetsat.int

Essential steps in the validation framework:•
Daily/automated download of reference products;•Matching/colocation with reference products;•
Generation and storage of daily match files;•
Generation of comparison plots, statistics/skill scores,and Cal/Val reports, both daily and (if requested) overlonger periods (i.e., by accumulating data over selected
time intervals and/or locations)

Reference data for the validation of cloud andaerosol products:
Ref. data source

CloudsAerosols

Space-born active
instruments

A-TrainAeolusEarthCARE

A-TrainAeolusEarthCARE

Ground-based
observationsACTRISCloudnet*

ACTRIS (Aeronet,Earlinet)*

Products fromother space-based
passivesensors/algorithms

MODIS
VIIRS
ABIAHIMODISVIIRS
TROPOMI

Model-based
measurements

/CAMS
EMAC
ICAP/AEROSAT*Framework of the European Project ATMO-ACCESS (talk H. Baars)

Past

EUM/RSP/DOC/23/1386018, v1 Draft, 8 November 2023

PresentFuture5

Optimal Cloud Analysis for Single/Multi-layer (OCA products)
www.eumetsat.int

Cloud Mask, 0.6, 0.8, 1.6, 3.9, 6.3, 7.2, 8.7, 9.7,
10.8 ,12.0, 13.4 radiances

EUMETSAT cloud products based onoptimal estimation framework (Watts et al.
2011) using radiances from imagers

1-Layer Inversion

Diagnostics

Multi-layerlikely?

COTSL

NoCTPSLCRESL•

Retrieved: cloud top pressure, optical thickness,particle size, cloud phase•

Flexibility to add new channels and instruments(e.g. MTG/FCI, EPS-SG/METimage)•

Simplified fast look-up table approach RT model•Multi layer retrieval.

•

Full uncertainty estimate•

CTP mostly depends on thermal IR channels andtemperature profile•

COT,CRE: extra constraint from solar channels

PHSSL✓Single Layer products
Yes

0.6, 0.8, 1.6, 3.9, 6.3, 7.2, 8.7, 9.7, 10.8
,12.0, 13.4 radiances

2-Layer Inversion
CTPUL

CREUL

COTUL

CTPLL

CRELL

COTLL

✓Two Layer products

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Validation of OCA vs. A-Train/DARDAR
www.eumetsat.int

OCA SEVIRI Cloud top height

SEVIRI natural colour RGB

Combined radar/Lidar products
are used for independentvalidation of cloud products fromImagers.

A-Trainoverpass

For example, estimating position,phase and overlap of cloudlayers:• Overlapping clouds: truth
defined with combination ofDARDAR target classification
and CALIOP backscatter• Thick ice clouds• Low liquid/supercooled clouds

EUM/RSP/DOC/23/1386018, v1 Draft, 8 November 2023

7Statistics over multiple orbits
Quantitative estimates of retrieval errors with statistics collected over multiple collocated orbits:
Cross comparison of cloud optical thickness and near-top effective radius for ice clouds.
Cloud top height validation

Ice cloud optical thickness and effective radius

Single layer ice

Single layer liquid

Single layer ice2-layers upper

2-layers upper

2-layers lower

Single layer ice

2-layers upper

EUM/RSP/DOC/23/1386018, v1 Draft, 8 November 2023

www.eumetsat.int

8Validation OCA vs. ACTRIS-Cloudnet (high time resolution)www.eumetsat.int
Compared parameters:▪ Current: cloud detection (single and 2-layers), cloud phase, top/base pressure, optical thickness▪ Can be added: Liquid/Ice Water Content, ice particle effective radius
Statistics is accumulated over several orbits/repeat cycles (as for A-Train)

Lidar/RADAR
cloud top

OCA cloud top(ice, liquid)

Preliminary results
using MTG-FCI data!

OCA estimated cloud
geometrical thickness

Lidar cloud base

FCI “dust” RGB
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Examples of monitoring and validation of Aerosol Optical Depth
www.eumetsat.int

Metop/PMAP vs. AERONET over land

Metop/PMAP vs. MODIS and VIIRS over ocean

Adapted from “Polar Multi-Sensor Aerosol Product (PMAP): Validation Report”, EUMETSAT Doc. EUM/TSS/REP/14/745438 (Jan 2023)
EUM/RSP/DOC/23/1386018, v1 Draft, 8 November 2023

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Validation of Aerosol products with CALIOP
www.eumetsat.int

Support the analysis of problematic aerosol situations:• A diagnosis can be provided about an specific altitude ofthe layer, its vertical distribution, a multi-layer situation, theidentification of aerosol over clouds, residual cloudcontamination, etc.
CALIOP Total Attenuated Backscatter @532nm (from Aeris web site)

Directly support the validation ofaerosol layer height (ALH) from
S3/OLCI (OLCOAH), 3MI, EPS-SG/MAP,etc.
• Provide a description of the verticaldistribution – the definition of layer height
usually remaining ambiguous• Allow a quantitative evaluation of theperformance
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Plans for the use of EarthCARE products within EUMETSAT validation activities
Products

www.eumetsat.int

ATLID/CPR/MSI composite products selected for continuity with respect to A-Train/DARDAR products(see talk by S. Mason):• ACM-CAP (liquid cloud/ice cloud/rain water content and effective radius, aerosol number
concentration and extinction)• ACM-COM (cloud water/ice content and particle size, aerosol type and optical depth at 355nm)
Use of the ACM-3D products (3D scene construction) is to be assessed.

Expected improvements with respect to A-Train we plan to exploit

Fully synchronized observations form ATLID/CPR/MSI (lidar/radar/imager on the same platform)
Higher accuracy of retrieved cloud/aerosol extinction profiles
Better radar sensitivity to thin ice clouds and lower liquid cloud layers at higher spatial resolution
Liquid cloud retrieval (although with higher uncertainty than ice clouds)
Better discrimination and characterization of overlapping aerosol/cloud layers with HSRL ATLID.
Aerosol/Cloud overlap is of particular interest for future EUMETSAT products.
• Improved synergic target classification•••••

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Remarks
www.eumetsat.int

Use of EarthCARE data in other EUMETSAT developments and activities:• Assessment of the assumptions on aerosol vertical distribution (look-up tables) and layers inretrievals from instruments with no vertical capabilities (e.g., current Metop/PMAP product)• Use of the Broadband Radiometer (BBR) for the validation of Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR)
products• Radiometric calibration of imagers (e.g., in plan for EPS-SG/METimage if temporal overlap allows)• Comparison of atmospheric correction estimation from passive imagers (e.g., MAP and CLIM) andprofile measurement from EarthCARE
All EUMETSAT products discussed here are available through the EUMETSAT Product
Navigator and Data Centre Download Tool: https://navigator.eumetsat.int
Product monitoring and validation results available to users via METIS (Monitoring & Evaluationof Thematic Information from Space): https://metis.eumetsat.int

For more information about the EUMETSAT products discussed in this presentation, please contact:
Clouds: Alessio.Bozzo@eumetsat.int, Loredana.Spezzi@eumetsat.int
Aerosols: Julien.Chimot@eumetsat.int, Bertrand.Fougnie@Eumetsat.int, Pepe.Phillips@eumetsat.int,
Margarita.Vazquez@eumetsat.int
EUM/RSP/DOC/23/1386018, v1 Draft, 8 November 2023

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