Assessment of reanalysis datasets using AIRS and IASI hyperspectral radiances

Modern reanalysis datasets provide us with the best available four-dimensional, homogeneous datasets for studying the climate and weather systems and for possible validation of climate models. In order to have confidence in the use of reanalysis data for the above-mentioned studies, it is important to see how they compare with a common dataset with high data quality and to understand any discrepancies among them. In this study, the radiance measurements from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA Aqua are used to assess the data quality of reanalysis datasets, including NASA´s Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast´s ERA-Interim Reanalysis, Japanese 25-year Reanalysis (JRA-25). Particularly, we focus on the spectral signature regions that are sensitive to stratosphere temperature and upper troposphere water vapor. The preliminary results on are presented.