Here is a thesis on AMSR-E 89 GHz on how to take out atmospheric effects using ECMWF (total columnar water vapor, wind speed, liquid water path, skin temperature and 2 m temperature). It is not at all clear that Worldview applies this algorithm, whether it is feasible for us to do so, or whether something even better is around.
I'm also wondering since ECMWF by all accounts is markedly better than GFS, how big a job it would be to run a version of nullschool based on ECMWF. Easiest would be a button switch on the existing nullschool site to facilitate comparisons.
Atmospheric Correction of Brightness Temperatures for Sea Ice Concentration Retrieval using 89 GHz Algorithms
Junshen Lu
http://www.iup.uni-bremen.de/PEP_master_thesis/thesis_2014/Thesis_Lu.pdfSea ice has large impact on climate changes. An accurate retrieval of the spatial
and temporal distribution of sea ice is thus essential to understand and predict
the weather and climate. Taking advantage of the high resolution of AMSR-E 89 GHz
channel, the ASI (Artist Sea Ice) algorithm has a higher spatial resolution, but
is more sensitive to the atmospheric impact. In this study, the influence of atmospheric
parameters on sea ice concentration retrieval in the Arctic is studied, and
a new version of ASI algorithm that includes atmospheric correction is developed.
The correction is carried out by simulating TB contributed by atmosphere with
a linear forward model developed for the frequencies of AMSR-E. ECMWF data,
co-located with AMSR-E measurements, are used as the atmosphere profiles. The
included parameters are: total columnar water vapor, wind speed, liquid water
path, skin temperature and 2 meter air temperature. The combined correction of
TWV, WS, LWP and T
skin effectively screens out most atmospheric influences.