Assimilation of Historical AVHRR Data in a Reanalysis Context

The Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) is a broad-band, four or five channel scanner, sensing in the visible, near-infrared, and thermal infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Data records from AVHRR instruments on-board Polar Orbiting Satellites span 30 years. The AVHRR radiance from the Infra-red channels have been directly assimilated over the ocean in NASA GEOS system since 2012 and have made a positive contribution towards the skin temperature analysis. Given the positive impact of the assimilation of AVHRR radiance it is necessary to exploit the data for reanalysis related application. The AVHRR data is currently being re-processed at GMAO NASA for historical periods and assimilated in the planned upcoming reanalysis framework. In this paper a description of the re-processing of AVHRR data will be provided and a case study from 2005 based on Hurricane Katrina will be presented.