Scan asymmetries in AMSU‐B data

Abstract

A simple method of averaging measurements for different scan positions was used to quantify scan asymmetries in AMSU‐B brightness temperatures for the sensors on the satellites NOAA 15, 16, and 17. The method works particularly well for the sounding channels 18 to 20. The asymmetries are small in most cases. In particular, asymmetries for Channel 18 are below 1.90, −0.53, and 0.49 K for NOAA 15, 16, and 17, respectively. On the other hand, it was found that the instrument on NOAA 15 has significant asymmetries for Channels 19 and 20, which seem to be related to the known radio frequency interference problem for this instrument. The use of the appropriate set of interference correction coefficients significantly reduces the asymmetry.