A Characterization of the Quality of the Stratospheric Temperature Distributions from SABER based on Comparisons with COSMIC Data

Global stratospheric temperature measurement is an important field in the study of climate and weather. Dynamic and radiative coupling between the stratosphere and troposphere has been demonstrated in a number of studies over the past decade or so. However, studies of the stratosphere were hampered by a shortage of observation data before satellite technology was used in atmospheric sounding. Now, the data from the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics, and Dynamics/Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (TIMED/SABER) observations make it easier to study the stratosphere. The precision and accuracy of TIMED/SABER satellite soundings in the stratosphere are analyzed in this paper using refraction error data and temperature data obtained from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) radio occultation sounding system and TIMED/SABER temperature data between April 2006 and December 2009. The results show high detection accuracy of TIMED/SABER satellite soundings in the stratosphere. The temperature standard deviation (STDV) errors of SABER are mostly in the range from of 0–3.5 K. At 40 km the STDV error is usually less than 1 K, which means that TIMED/SABER temperature is close to the real atmospheric temperature at this height. The distributions of SABER STDV errors follow a seasonal variation: they are approximately similar in the months that belong to the same season. As the weather situation is complicated and fickle, the distribution of SABER STDV errors is most complex at the equator. The results in this paper are consistent with previous research and can provide further support for application of the SABER’s temperature data.