Cooperative Institute for Climate Studies
(CICS)
The purpose of CICS is to:

Foster collaborative research between NOAA and the
University of Maryland in studies of satellite
climatology, climate diagnostics, modeling and
prediction.

Serve as a center at which scientists and engineers
working on problems of mutual interest may focus on
studies contributing to the understanding of the earthocean-atmosphere climate system, climate modeling,
climate prediction, and satellite climatology.

Stimulate the training of scientists and engineers in
appropriate disciplines
For two decades CICS has fostered collaborative
research between NOAA and the University that
has covered a wide range of problems in radiation
budget studies, climate diagnostics and
atmospheric chemistry.
Three major research theme areas have evolved
within CICS, namely:

Global Energy and Water Cycles,
 Climate Diagnostics and Prediction, and
 Atmospheric Chemistry
Outline

Mapping against NOAA Mission Goals

Personnel Changes

Highlights

New Building

Issues
Meeting NOAA Mission Goals

Involvement in and with NOAA Weather &
Water, Climate, and Ecosystem Goal Teams

Outreach & Education
– Lecturing ESSIC & METO courses
– Presenting seminars
– Interacting with undergraduates

Development of Innovative Product Systems
for Environmental Monitoring and Prediction
– Integrated ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay
watershed and estuary
NOAA Related Activities

Research to Operations
– OLR, Precipitation

Product validation and analysis leading to user
confidence and potential Climate Data Records
– Products: Precipitation, Water Vapor, E/P

Satellite Services
– NOAA Satellites: POES, GOES, NPOESS
– Non-NOAA: EOS, TRMM, ADEOS-II

Innovative Product System Development
– Initiate construction of a fully, integrated
ecosystem model of the Chesapeake Bay for
near-real time applications and climate research
 Supports NOAA 5 & 20-Year Vision
Personnel Updates

Departing
– Jeff McCollum
– Dave Salapata
– Arief Sudradjat
– Arnold Gruber
 Arriving
– CICS Coordinator
– Nai-Yu Wang
– Jiangtao Xu
– Arnold Gruber
– Matt Sapiano
 Extended Sick Leave
– Bruce Ramsay
Highlights

Continued Advancement of OLR and
Precipitation Retrievals

Renewed Emphasis on the “Cs” in CICS
both Cooperative and Climate

Initiation of Marine Ecosystem Efforts
Development of a CERES Outgoing Longwave Radiation Data
Set Compatible With Current Operational OLR Data:
A Pre-NPOESS Risk Reduction Study for the
CERES Instrument
Hai-Tien Lee (CICS/ESSIC-NOAA)
Istvan Laszlo (NOAA/NESDIS)
Arnold Gruber (CICS/ESSIC-NOAA)
Robert G. Ellingson (FSU)
Comparison of HIRS and AVHRR OLR to Broadband Measurement
Nino3
Nino4
• HIRS OLR (black)
agrees very well with the
broadband measurements
from ERBE and CERES
(pink) including the
Nino3 / 4 regions.
• AVHRR OLR (green)
has large biases in Nino3
region that is related to its
insensitivity to water
vapor variation. For
Nino4 where OLR
variation is mainly cloud
driven, AVHRR OLR
agrees better with the
broadband measurements.
Development of Longwave Radiation Budget Products
for GOES-R ABI and HES Instruments
Hai-Tien Lee (CICS/ESSIC-NOAA)
Istvan Laszlo (NOAA/NESDIS)
GOES Can Provide Accurate OLR Diurnal Variation
• OLR has large diurnal
variations, particularly over
land. Insufficient temporal
sampling by, e.g., polar
orbiters, can cause large
regional errors/biases in OLR
monthly/daily mean.
• Geostationary satellites with
continuous and frequent
observations could provide
accurate estimate of OLR
diurnal variation and
therefore accurate
monthly/daily means.
Sample GOES OLR product
with 3-hourly observations.
Passive Microwave Coastline
Rainfall Retrievals
Jeff McCollum & Ralph Ferraro

Problem has always plagued the microwave (MW) rainfall
retrieval community
– Emissivity contrast between land (H) & ocean (L)
– Large FOV’s of MW sensors (~10 km)
– Varying FOV’s of MW sensors
 “Mixed” pixels at and adjacent to coast

Problem typically avoided by employing broad land/sea/coast
tags
– Dealt with in 1990’s; never really revisited
– Results in tagging potential coastal rain areas as “indeterminate”

Expanded our GPROF (Goddard Profiling Algorithm) over land
retrieval work to re-evaluate and improve coastal retrievals
– GPROF is used for TRMM/TMI, AMSR-E and SSM/I
• Improved coastline
scheme developed
through TMI and PR
match-ups
– Able to retrieve coastline
rain rates of > 2 mm/hr
– Unable to improve
retrieval for rain rates <2
mm/hr
– Adopted for use in
GPROF V2004 (TMI &
AMSR-E)
Latitude
McCollum and Ferraro, 2005:
JAOT (in press)
Rain Frequency
Climate Analysis, Reanalysis and Synthesis

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NOAA’s commitment to GEOSS requires a leading
role in the analysis and synthesis of climate
observations
CICS personnel are helping NOAA rise to this
challenge in several areas
Atmospheric Reanalysis:


Ocean Analysis/Reanalysis:


Boulder workshop, CCSP development, planning for future
atmospheric reanalyses
Organization and Chairing of Team of Experts for ocean
analysis for NOAA’s Office of Climate Observations
Synthesis/Analysis of Global Precipitation:

Planning/initial development for reanalysis of satellite era
global precipitation, reconstruction of longer time series,
evaluation of high resolution precipitation products
Atmospheric Reanalysis

Boulder workshop:

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
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CCSP development:



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Workshop on Ongoing Analysis of the Climate System: 18-20 August
2003, Boulder, Colorado
See workshop web site
(http://www.joss.ucar.edu/joss_psg/meetings/climatesystem/) for pdf
version of report and background information from the workshop
U.S. needs to establish a National Program for Ongoing Analysis of the
Climate System to provide a retrospective and ongoing physically
consistent synthesis of earth observations
Science Working Group led by Siegfried Schubert/Glenn White
Report available on same web site
Prospectus being prepared now; September workshop planned
Planning for future atmospheric reanalyses:


Need for program planning
Need focus and leadership for NOAA, National analysis and synthesis
activities
Ocean Analysis/Reanalysis

CLIVAR Global Synthesis and Observations Panel
sponsored November 2004 workshop:



Identified requirements and role for ocean reanalyses
and current state-of-the-art
Established process for fostering future efforts
NOAA Office of Climate Observations identified
need for analysis effort to complement Ocean
Observing System:


Encouraged development of NCEP web site (joint
EMC/CPC effort) to provide access to operational ocean
analysis products
Established Team of Experts (Chaired by Phil Arkin) to
compare ocean observations and derived products with
analyses and make recommendations
Synthesis/Analysis of Global Precipitation


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Precipitation observation and analysis is a long-standing focus of CICS (both
GPCP and CMAP were associated)
GPCP Assessment as well as GEWEX and IGOS-P Integrated Global Water
Cycle Theme have clarified the need for a coordinated program of analysis
and development – CICS personnel are involved both technically and
programmatically in all aspects
Satellite era reanalysis of global precipitation:



Extension of historical record:

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GPCP and CMAP, while excellent contributions, have issues associated with
data homogeneity and analysis approach
New global analysis of 1988 – present feasible and required; initial development
underway at CICS
Need for longer record to understand decadal variations and trends
CICS personnel leading an effort to reconstruct the 1950 – present period
Evaluation of high resolution precipitation products:


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Numerous high resolution (25 km/3 hourly) precipitation products now available
A thorough evaluation of these products is needed to plan for production of
extended record
CICS is leading a Pilot Evaluation of High Resolution Precipitation Products
(PEHRPP)
GPCP Interdecadal Variations

First 4 Rotated EOFs of
annual average GPCP (57%
of total variance).

First 3: ENSO or ENSO-like
modes (51% of variance).
Some interdecadal
oscillations in the 3rd mode.

4th: interdecadal trend (6% of
total variance).

Tendency for mostly
increased precipitation over
oceans, with decreases over
much of the land.
NOAA/NCDC & CICS/ESSIC
Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem
Monitoring & Prediction
• Objective: Develop a fully
integrated, ecological model of the
Chesapeake Bay and its watershed
that assimilates in-situ and satellitederived data by adapting and
connecting existing models
• Purpose:
– Near-Real Time Applications:
Nowcasting and forecasting of
marine organisms, ocean health,
and coastal conditions
– Climate Research: Estimating
effect of climate change on the
health of coastal marine
ecosystems
• Partners: CoRP/SCSB, CICS,
ESSIC and other UM and UMCES*
departments
* University of Maryland Center of Environmental Science
SeaWiFS true-color image of Mid-Atlantic Region
from April 12, 1998.
Image provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and ORBIMAGE
Preliminary configuration of the Weather Research and Forecasting
(WRF) Modeling System for the Chesapeake Bay watershed region
Hybrid Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model
With and Without Seasonal Dependency to Penetrating Radiation
NCEP and NESDIS
Future Location
NOAA Center for
Weather and Climate Prediction
UMD Research Park, College Park
(Early FY08)
Issues (from 04 Retreat)

Process by which NESDIS “needs” can be communicated to
CI’s in a more regular/formal manner

Process by which activities, algorithms, products, etc. of
university partners can be brought to the attention of NESDIS
in a more regular/formal manner

Personnel exchanges: propose that CI’s exchange
information of recent and forthcoming Ph.D.s and thesis
topics

OMB Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) treats
research grants like performance based contracts. Where
and how do we charge extra overhead required for this
reporting?

NESDIS research not very visible in NOAA Research Review
Issues
CICS 5-Year Review and CI Policy
– Status ?
CICS Reporting – Change to once / year
Consolidate funding actions across Line
Offices to facilitate grant submission
Kathy LeFevre retiring end of year –
training of replacement(s) to avoid future
problems
Engagement with other NOAA (OAR) CIs
Issues
How can we stimulate more cross - institute
collaborations?
– Allow short-term visits to CI's to stimulate
collaborations, e.g. present a seminar, meet with
scientists to discuss proposal strategy, write
proposals, etc.
– Permit internships and sabbaticals for students and
CI scientists to work at another CI on a joint research
project
Staffing at SCSB – down to critical mass; require
more to enhance and create new linkages in
advance of new building
– Branch Head replacement
– New FTEs: land surface processes person, phys ocn,
etc
– Temporary assignments at SCSB / CICS (?)
Climate Analysis, Reanalysis and Synthesis


NOAA’s commitment to GEOSS requires
a leading role in the analysis and
synthesis of climate observations
CICS personnel are helping NOAA rise to
this challenge in several areas, including:
Atmospheric Reanalysis
 Ocean Analysis/Reanalysis:
 Synthesis/Analysis of Global Precipitation:
