An instrument simulator for geostationary satellites

In the coming years several new instruments will be launched into geostationary orbits, whose prime objective will be measuring atmospheric composition. The large flux of data coming from these instruments will give unprecedented information on atmospheric chemistry and aerosol dynamics. However, they also pose a large computational burden. Thus new techniques in radiative transfer modeling, constituent retrieval algorithms, and data assimilation will be needed. This presentation will show first results of forward model calculations from the GEOS-5 Nature Run of the TEMPO and GOES-R observing system, with the goal of developing synergistic aerosol retrieval algorithms. We will show comparisons of the accuracy and computational efficiency of several radiative transfer approximations using the VLIDORT radiative transfer model.