On the verification of the quality of SABER temperature, geopotential height, and wind fields by comparison with Met Office assimilated analyses

Abstract

The Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) experiment on the Thermosphere‐Ionosphere‐Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics satellite has delivered over 1 year of radiance profile data from which middle atmosphere temperature profiles have been retrieved. Version 1.01 temperatures are precise and sufficiently accurate, such that one can obtain estimates of their synoptic distributions on pressure surfaces. A sequential estimation algorithm was used to generate daily, zonal Fourier coefficients of temperature (through zonal wave number 6), and maps on constant pressure surfaces were generated using those coefficients. Maps of temperature, geopotential height, and geostrophic winds are compared with products from the Met Office analyses. Stratospheric differences are within about 2 K for temperature and 160 m for geopotential height. The respective wind fields indicate flow patterns that are similar. Examples of the fields are shown for a period in February 2002 during a sudden stratospheric warming event that occurred in the Northern Hemisphere. A cooling of the middle mesosphere accompanies the warming. It is anticipated that large‐scale, middle atmospheric dynamics and transport studies can be undertaken and that data assimilation products can be extended to near the mesopause using the SABER profiles.