A collaborative Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS) Pathfinder Project involving the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with cooperation from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), is underway. Selected data from Japan’s Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS-5) during a benchmark period (1 July 1995 - 30 June 1996) are being examined as part of this activity. The objective of the project is to provide a high-quality dataset suitable for climate analysis and research. Sources of noise in the data will be minimised, accurate cloud-detection algorithms will be developed, and accurate navigation and radiometric calibration will be appended to the data. To demonstrate the scientific usefulness of the GMS Pathfinder data for analysis and climate research, we will examine satellite-observed and derived variables which may be useful to monitor oceanic and land-surface changes that occurred over the Australian continent and its surrounding seas during the benchmark period. The datasets and documentation developed as part of this project will be made available to NASA’s designated Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) and to a designated Australian site. These data and documentation also will be fully available to the scientific community for research purposes.
Simpson et al. (Tue,) studied this question.