Sensitivity of low-tropospheric Arctic temperatures to assimilation of AIRS cloud-cleared radiances: Impact on midlatitude waves

In this work it is shown that the prediction of individual midlatitude waves in a global forecast framework may benefit from the assimilation of cloud-cleared radiances (CCRs) from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). The assimilation of CCRs, relative to clear-sky radiances, provides more information in high-latitude areas affected by broken low-level stratus clouds, which are common over north polar latitudes during the summer and autumn seasons. This added information in cloudy regions produces slightly lower low-level temperatures and lower mid-tropospheric heights (through hydrostatic adjustment) over the Arctic and part of northeastern Siberia. In areas that are both dynamically unstable (with the potential for rapid error growth) and data void (as observed by clear-sky radiances), the assimilation of CCRs provides valuable information that can improve the representation of individual baroclinic waves and their subsequent forecasts. The assimilation of AIRS CCRs slightly modifies the geopotential height gradients between the Arctic and the midlatitudes, leading to improvements in the forecast of individual baroclinic waves, as is shown through three case-studies. The set of observing system experiments (OSEs) is performed with the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) data assimilation and forecast system during boreal autumn 2014. AIRS CCRs are thinned to approximately one quarter the density of operationally assimilated AIRS radiances, consistent with their higher information content. Global 6-hourly analyses are produced from 01 September to 10 November 2014 and seven-day forecasts are initialized at 0000 UTC daily. Since the CCR methodology is widely applicable, these findings are also relevant to other infrared sensors.