The Effect of Satellite Track Masking on Simulated Cloud Satellite Data in a Global Atmospheric Model

The CFMIP Observation Simulator Package (COSP) simulates data provided by cloud-observing satellites and products based on the hydrometeor properties in an atmospheric model in order to provide an objective means to compare cloud properties between models. COSP also facilitates comparisons between models and satellite products, but as provided it examines the entire model domain whereas satellites cover only the swath of their respective orbital tracks. This temporal and spatial mismatch in data coverage may introduce biases in time-averaged model cloud fields. Here the data generated by COSP from a year-long integration of the GEOS-5 Earth System Model are masked with the respective orbital tracks of the satellites and compared to the unmasked fields to determine what biases domain-wide coverage may induce.