Observation bias correction with an ensemble Kalman filter

Abstract

This paper considers the use of an ensemble Kalman filter to correct satellite radiance observations for state dependent biases. Our approach is to use state-space augmentation to estimate satellite biases as part of the ensemble data assimilation procedure.We illustrate our approach by applying it to a particular ensemble scheme—the local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF)—to assimilate simulated biased atmospheric infrared sounder brightness temperature observations from 15 channels on the simplified parameterizations, primitive-equation dynamics (SPEEDY) model. The scheme we present successfully reduces both the observation bias and analysis error in perfect-model simulations.