Mr. Bradley T. Zavodsky Profile

Bradley T. Zavodsky

Research Meteorologist at NASA Marshall Space Flight Ctr

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Publications (3)

Proceedings Article | 18 September 2018 Presentation + Paper

Overview of the NASA TROPICS CubeSat constellation mission

W. Blackwell, S. Braun, B. Zavodsky, C. Velden, T. Greenwald, D. Herndon, R. Bennartz, M. DeMaria, G. Chirokova, R. Atlas, J. Dunion, F. Marks, R. Rogers, H. Christophersen, B. Annane

Proceedings Volume 10769, 1076908 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2320333

KEYWORDS: Satellites, Microwave radiation, Radiometry, Spatial resolution, Spectrometers, Temporal resolution, Antennas, Data modeling

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Recent technology advances in miniature microwave radiometers that can be hosted on very small satellites has made possible a new class of affordable constellation missions that provide very high revisit rates of tropical cyclones and other severe weather. The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission was selected by NASA as part of the Earth Venture–Instrument (EVI-3) program and is now in development with planned launch readiness in late 2019. The overarching goal for TROPICS is to provide nearly all-weather observations of 3-D temperature and humidity, as well as cloud ice and precipitation horizontal structure, at high temporal resolution to conduct high-value science investigations of tropical cyclones (TCs). TROPICS will provide rapid-refresh microwave measurements (median refresh rate better than 60 minutes for the baseline mission) over the tropics that can be used to observe the thermodynamics of the troposphere and precipitation structure for storm systems at the mesoscale and synoptic scale over the entire storm lifecycle. TROPICS will comprise a constellation of at least six CubeSats in three low-Earth orbital planes. Each CubeSat will host a high performance radiometer to provide temperature profiles using seven channels near the 118.75 GHz oxygen absorption line, water vapor profiles using three channels near the 183 GHz water vapor absorption line, imagery in a single channel near 90 GHz for precipitation measurements (when combined with higher resolution water vapor channels), and a single channel at 205 GHz that is more sensitive to precipitation-sized ice particles and low-level moisture. This observing system offers an unprecedented combination of horizontal and temporal resolution in the microwave spectrum to measure environmental and inner-core conditions for TCs on a nearly global scale and is a major leap forward in the temporal resolution of several key parameters needed for assimilation into advanced data assimilation systems capable of utilizing rapid-update radiance or retrieval data. Here, we provide an overview of the mission and an update on current status, with a focus on unique characteristics of the Cubesat system, recent performance simulations on a range of observables to be provided by the constellation, and a summary of science applications.

Proceedings Article | 16 May 2007 Paper

The impact of atmospheric infrared sounder (AIRS) profiles on short-term weather forecasts

Bradley Zavodsky, Shih-Hung Chou, Gary Jedlovec, William Lapenta

Proceedings Volume 6565, 65651J (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.718121

KEYWORDS: Data modeling, Infrared radiation, Atmospheric modeling, Prototyping, Directed energy weapons, Satellites, Data communications, Earth's atmosphere, Atmospheric monitoring, Error analysis

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The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), together with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), represents one of the most advanced space-based atmospheric sounding systems. Aside from monitoring changes in Earth's climate, one of the objectives of AIRS is to provide sounding information with sufficient accuracy such that the assimilation of the new observations, especially in data sparse regions, will lead to an improvement in weather forecasts. The combined AIRS/AMSU system provides radiance measurements used as input to a sophisticated retrieval scheme which has been shown to produce temperature profiles with an accuracy of 1 K over 1 km layers and humidity profiles with accuracy of 10-15% in 2 km layers in both clear and partly cloudy conditions. The retrieval algorithm also provides estimates of the accuracy of the retrieved values at each pressure level, allowing the user to select profiles based on the required error tolerances of the application. The purpose of this paper is to describe a procedure to optimally assimilate high-resolution AIRS profile data in a regional analysis/forecast model. The paper focuses on a U.S. East-Coast cyclone from November 2005. Temperature and moisture profiles-containing information about the quality of each temperature layer-from the prototype version 5.0 Earth Observing System (EOS) science team retrieval algorithm are used in this study. The quality indicators are used to select the highest quality temperature and moisture data for each profile location and pressure level. AIRS data are assimilated into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) numerical weather prediction model using the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) Data Analysis System (ADAS), to produce near-real-time regional weather forecasts over the continental U.S. The preliminary assessment of the impact of the AIRS profiles will focus on intelligent use of the quality indicators, analysis impact, and forecast verification against rawinsondes and precipitation data.

Proceedings Article | 4 May 2006 Paper

The use of error estimates with AIRS profiles to improve short-term weather forecasts

Gary Jedlovec, Shih-Hung Chou, Bradley Zavodsky, William Lapenta

Proceedings Volume 6233, 62331B (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.665724

KEYWORDS: Error analysis, Data modeling, Prototyping, Satellites, Infrared radiation, Troposphere, Humidity, Coastal modeling, Atmospheric modeling, Climatology

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