We have developed a method for reprocessing the multidecadal, multispacecraft Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Special Sensor Magnetometer (DMSP SSM) data set and have applied it to 15 spacecraft years of data (DMSP Flight 16-18, 2010-2014). This Level-2 data set improves on other available SSM data sets with recalculated spacecraft locations and magnetic perturbations, artifact signal removal, representations of the observations in geomagnetic coordinates, and in situ auroral boundaries. Spacecraft locations have been recalculated using ground-tracking information. Magnetic perturbations (measured field minus modeled main field) are recomputed. The updated locations ensure the appropriate model field is used. We characterize and remove a slow-varying signal in the magnetic field measurements. This signal is a combination of ring current and measurement artifacts. A final artifact remains after processing: step discontinuities in the baseline caused by activation/deactivation of spacecraft electronics. Using coincident data from the DMSP precipitating electrons and ions instrument (SSJ4/5), we detect the in situ auroral boundaries with an improvement to the Redmon et al. (2010) algorithm. We embed the location of the aurora and an accompanying figure of merit in the Level-2 SSM data product. Finally, we demonstrate the potential of this new data set by estimating field-aligned current (FAC) density using the Minimum Variance Analysis technique. The FAC estimates are then expressed in dynamic auroral boundary coordinates using the SSJ-derived boundaries, demonstrating a dawn-dusk asymmetry in average FAC location relative to the equatorward edge of the aurora. The new SSM data set is now available in several public repositories.
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 8(2), 764-785, 2016
Description:
This study evaluates the effects of major cumulus parameterization closures on summer precipitation simulations over the U.S. Atlantic Coasts and Gulf of Mexico. A series of mesoscale regional climate model simulations using an Ensemble Cumulus Param...
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 9(8), 3045-3068, 2017
Description:
The quasi-geostrophic omega equation has been used extensively to examine the large-scale vertical velocity patterns of atmospheric systems. It is derived from the quasi-geostrophic equations, a balanced set of equations based on the partitioning of ...
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 8(4), 1969-1985, 2016
Description:
In this study, a one-dimensional (1-D) thermal diffusion lake model within the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was investigated for the Laurentian Great Lakes. In the default 10-layer lake model, the albedos of water and ice are specifie...
Girotto, M.; de Lannoy, G. J. M.; Reichle, R. H.; Rodell, M.; Draper, C.; Bhanja, S. N.; Mukherjee, A.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters 44(9), 4107-4115, 2017
Description:
This study investigates some of the benefits and drawbacks of assimilating terrestrial water storage (TWS) observations from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) into a land surface model over India. GRACE observes TWS depletion associ...
Hu, X. M.; Xue, M.; McPherson, R. A.; Martin, E.; Rosendahl, D. H.; Qiao, L.;
Published Date:
2018
Source:
Journal of Advances in Modeling Systems 10(2), 421-447, 2018
Description:
Detailed, regional climate projections, particularly for precipitation, are critical for many applications. Accurate precipitation downscaling in the United States Great Plains remains a great challenge for most Regional Climate Models, particularly ...
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 11(7), 2352-2374, 2019
Description:
Precipitation amount (A), frequency (F), intensity (I), and duration (D) are important properties of precipitation, but their estimates are sensitive to data resolution. This study investigates this resolution dependence, and the influences of differ...
Li, S.; Zhang, S.; Liu, Z.; Lu, L.; Zhu, J.; Zhang, X.; Wu, X.; Zhao, M.; Vecchi, G. A.; Zhang, R. H.; Lin, X.;
Published Date:
2018
Source:
Journal of Advances in Modeling Systems 10(4), 989-1010, 2018
Description:
Parametric uncertainty in convection parameterization is one major source of model errors that cause model climate drift. Convection parameter tuning has been widely studied in atmospheric models to help mitigate the problem. However, in a fully coup...
Redmon, R. J.; Denig, W. F. (William F.); Kilcommons, L. M.; Knipp, Delores J. (Delores Jane);
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics 122(8), 9056-9067, 2017
Description:
Since the mid-1970s, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft have operated instruments for monitoring the space environment from low Earth orbit. As the program evolved, so have the measurement capabilities such that modern DMS...
Coopersmith, E. J.; Bell, J. E.; Benedict, K.; Shriber, J.; McCotter, O.; Cosh, Michael H.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
GeoHealth 1(1), 51-63, 2017
Description:
Coccidioidomycosis (also called Valley fever) is caused by a soilborne fungus, Coccidioides spp., in arid regions of the southwestern United States. Though some who develop infections from this fungus remain asymptomatic, others develop respiratory d...
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 8(2), 719-734, 2016
Description:
Assimilation of satellite radiances has been proven to have positive impacts on the forecast skill, especially for regions with sparse conventional observations. Localization is an essential component to effectively assimilate satellite radiances in ...
While global climate models (GCMs) provide useful projections of nearāsurface wind vectors into the 21st century, resolution is not sufficient enough for use in regional wave modeling. Statistically downscaled GCM projections from Multivariate Adap...
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 9(2), 870-892, 2017
Description:
Previous modeling work showed that aerosol can affect the position of the tropical rain belt, i.e., the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). Yet it remains unclear which aspects of the aerosol impact are robust across models, and which are not. Her...
Wolding, B. O.; Maloney, E. D.; Henderson, S.; Branson, M.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 9(1), 307-331, 2017
Description:
WTG balance is used to examine how changes in the moist thermodynamic structure of the tropics affect the MJO in two simulations of the Superparameterized Community Earth System Model (SP-CESM), one at preindustrial (PI) levels of CO2 and one where C...
Estuarine environments are continuously being shaped by both natural and anthropogenic sources which directly/indirectly influence the organisms that inhabit these important niches on both individual and community levels. Human infections caused by p...
Journal of Advances in Modeling Systems 10(2), 403-420, 2018
Description:
Global climate simulations rely on parameterizations of physical processes that have scales smaller than the resolved ones. In the atmosphere, these parameterizations represent moist convection, boundary layer turbulence and convection, cloud microph...
Adames, A. F.; Kim, D.; Sobel, Adam H., 1967-; Del Genio, A.; Wu, J.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 9(2), 1251-1268, 2017
Description:
Changes in the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) with increasing CO2 concentrations are examined using the Goddard Institute for Space Studies Global Climate Model (GCM). Four simulations performed with fixed CO2 concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 time...
Trenary, L.; DelSole, Timothy; Tippett, M. K.; Pegion, Kathy, 1975-;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 9(1), 291-306, 2017
Description:
We propose a general methodology for determining the lagged ensemble that minimizes the mean square forecast error. The MSE of a lagged ensemble is shown to depend only on a quantity called the cross-lead error covariance matrix, which can be estimat...
Harrop, B. E.; Ma, P. L.; Rasch, P. J.; Neale, R. B.; Hannay, CeĢcile;
Published Date:
2018
Source:
Journal of Advances in Modeling Systems 10(4), 961-970, 2018
Description:
Precipitation is an important climate quantity that is critically relevant to society. In spite of intense efforts, significant precipitation biases remain in most climate models. One pervasive and persistent bias found in many general circulation mo...
Trenary, L.; DelSole, Timothy; Tippett, M. K.; Pegion, Kathy, 1975-;
Published Date:
2018
Source:
Journal of Advances in Modeling Systems 10(4), 1074-1086, 2018
Description:
The mean square error (MSE) of a lagged ensemble of monthly forecasts of the NiƱo 3.4 index from the Climate Forecast System (CFSv2) is examined with respect to ensemble size and configuration. Although the realātime forecast is initialized 4 time...
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 8(4), 1586-1619, 2016
Description:
The collective effects of convection can influence large-scale circulations that, in turn, act to organize convective activity. Such scale interactions may play an important role in moisture-convection feedbacks thought to be important to both convec...
Redmon, R. J.; Denig, W. F. (William F.); Kilcommons, L. M.; Knipp, Delores J. (Delores Jane);
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics 122(8), 9056-9067, 2017
Description:
Since the mid-1970s, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft have operated instruments for monitoring the space environment from low Earth orbit. As the program evolved, so have the measurement capabilities such that modern DMS...
Shi, X.; Baker, J. B. H.; Ruohoniemi, J. M.; Hartinger, M. D.; Murphy, K. R.; Rodriguez, J. V.; Nishimura, Y.; McWilliams, K. A.; Angelopoulos, V. (Vassilis), 1965-;
Published Date:
2018
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics 123(10), 8422-8438, 2018
Description:
Poloidal ultralow frequency (ULF) waves between 5 and 10 mHz were observed by multiple satellites and three high-latitude Super Dual Auroral Radar Network radars during the recovery phase of a moderate geomagnetic storm on 24-27 January 2016. The lon...