Question 9

Identify those products generated and supported for operational use by NOAA's ATOVS sounding retrieval system. (Check the boxes for all answers that apply, and leave those that do not apply unchecked. Then click DONE.) a) Sounding profiles of temperature and mixing ratios - clear and cloudy. b) Cloud detection and cloud amount. c) Cloud-top pressure and temperature. d) Rain rate. e) Three-layer precipitable water. f) Total precipitable water. g) HIRS (infrared) and AMSU (microwave) sounding instrument radiance data. h) Cloud liquid water. i) Snow cover and sea ice.   Discussion Many of the products supported by the ATOVS system are in fact in operational use today by weather and environmental monitoring services around the world. Much of the increase in demand for POES products has been driven by the direct assimilation of sounder radiance data into numerical prediction models. Answers d), h), and i) are incorrect responses since these products are supported by a separate system that generates non-sounding products (also known as the Microwave Surface and Precipitation Products System (MSPPS)). See the second POES Module, Microwave Products and Applications, and the MSPPS link on the "Resources" page for more information.