CWVC - Global Retrieval of ATSR Cloud Parameters and Evaluation (GRAPE)

General Info

Title:	CWVC - Global Retrieval of ATSR Cloud Parameters and Evaluation (GRAPE)
Type:	Data Entity
Sub-Type:	Analysis
Abbreviation:	cwvc-grape
Publication State:	published
The publication state of this metadata: 'old' - for redundant records; 'working' - for new/in progress records; 'published' - for records approaching maturity, which may still change, but should be available via the discovery services; and 'Published' for mature records that are unlikely to change and should be available via the discovery services.

URI:	http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/view/badc.nerc.ac.uk__ATOM__dataent_grape

Summary
A brief description of the data.

The aim of the GRAPE project was to produce a global cloud and aerosol dataset using a state-of-the-art physical retrieval of the entire duration of the Along Track Scanning Radiometer 2 (ATSR-2) mission (aboard ERS-2). This dataset will be compared and contrasted with existing climatologies (based on different instruments and very different retrieval algorithms). The GRAPE project was initially funded through the Clouds, Water Vapour and Climate (CWVC) Programme, a five-year NERC directed research programme. The dataset has been developed further within the National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO) and now includes data from AATSR. An email list has been set up at BADC to distribute information/updates about and other GRAPE related issues to users.

Content
The actual data being described by this document. NB, in the case of data granules, this content may just be a reference to an ingested CSML or CDML file.

Introduction

The aim of the GRAPE project is to produce a global cloud and aerosol dataset using a state-of-the-art physical retrieval of the entire duration of the Along Track Scanning Radiometer 2 (ATSR-2) mission (aboard ERS-2). This dataset will be compared and contrasted with existing climatologies (based on different instruments and very different retrieval algorithms).

GRAPE will deliver the following products: Cloud Optical Depth, Aerosol Optical Depth (cloud free), Cloud Phase, Cloud Particle Size, Cloud Top Pressure, Cloud Fraction and Cloud Ice/Water Path along with associated error measurements.

The cloud parameters produced will allow a direct comparison with model simulations from the ECMWF and the Met Office Unified Model. In conjunction with water vapour estimates from the MLS instrument aboard UARS, observational estimates of the total water vapour budget will be possible.

The GRAPE project is funded through the Clouds, Water Vapour and Climate (CWVC) Programme, a five-year NERC directed research programme. CWVC overall aim is to improve our understanding of the physical processes responsible for the distribution of humidity and clouds and of their influences on climate. Projects have been selected for funding through three rounds of awards, in January 1999, December 2000 and September 2001.

Data Access

Access to the CWVC GRAPE data archive is now public. Although no registration is required to view this data, you are invited to register register as a BADC user and log in so that usage statistics can be noted. This online registration only takes a few minutes.

Availability of data and images and file format

The GRAPE data is held in HDF format.

Images of monthly means at 2.5 degree resolution from the GRAPE processing completed so far are available from the Oxford Physics Department GRAPE Project.

Documentation, Links to further information and references

Background information on the GRAPE project is presented in a documentation file.

Latest News about GRAPE are available. - LATEST on April 2009: v3 data available
November 2009:update to v3 data - minor bugfix in one variable and extension of dataset
June 2010:update to v3 data - more minor bugfixes and extension of dataset. Level 3 data in netCDF format.

An email list has been set up at BADC to distribute information/updates about and other GRAPE related issues to users. For information about this list and to subscribe, see the GRAPE-users mailing list page. An archive of previous messages can also be viewed.

Links to further information:

The Oxford Physics Department GRAPE Project pages.
List of projects funded under the CWVC programme.

Other cloud datasets:

The BADC hosts cloud products from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP).

The Cloud Archive User Service (CLAUS) data, and the Cloud and WAter Vapour Experiment for model comparisons at the CCLRC Chilbolton Observatory (CWAVE) data are both also available from the BADC.

Also of interest are the CLOUMAP2 programme and the CLOUDNET project.

References

Thomas, G.E., C.A. Poulsen, A.M. Sayer, S.H. Marsh, S.M. Dean, E. Carboni, R. Siddans, R.G. Grainger and B.N. Lawrence, The GRAPE aerosol retrieval algorithm, 2009, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 2, 679-701.
Thomas, G.E., Poulsen C.A., Siddans R., Sayer A.M., Carboni E., Marsh S.H., Dean, S.M., Grainger R.G., and Lawrence B., 2009. Validation of the GRAPE single view aerosol retrieval for ATSR-2 and insights into the long term global AOD trend, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 9. 21581-21618.
Poulsen, C.A., E. Campmany, S. Dean, G. Ewen, A.M. Sayer, G.E. Thomas, R.G. Grainger, R. Siddans, B. Lawrence and P. Watts, The ORAC-ATSR-2 cloud retrieval algorithm for GRAPE, in preparation for the RSE AATSR special issue, 2009.
Sayer, A. M., Campmany, E., S. Dean, G. Ewen, C.A. Poulsen, C. Arnold, G.E. Thomas, R.G. Grainger, R. Siddans, B. Lawrence and P. Watts, Global Retrieval of ATSR-2 Cloud Parameters and Evaluation (GRAPE): Cloud Retrieval Validation, in preparation, 2009.

Citation

Date of citation

Who to contact

If you have any questions concerning data availability or data access then you should contact the BADC Support line. If you have any questions concerning scientific issues such as details of the retrieval algorithm, or limitations of the data then you should contact Dr Don Grainger (PI).

Lineage
Summary of the origins of the dataset, e.g.: "Dataset produced from NASA MODIS instrument on Terra and collected at the University of York's groundstation 1999-2003 and a copy provided to NEODC in June 2007".

Data supplied as is to the BADC by the Oxford Physics Department.

Quality Statement
Description of the relative quality of the dataset.

Data quality controlled by the GRAPE team at the University of Oxford.

Author
The principal author of the actual underlying data. Only one author can be specified per atom; if there are multiple authors, these should be specified as 'contributors'. NB, an atom MUST have an author specified.

Name	email
NERC CWVC GRAPE campaign participants

Online References
Online references with a specific relationship to the data being described here. NB, if links are supplied they must be valid and include the transport protocol - e.g. 'http://blah.co.uk'. Also, note, three online references can be added at once; after these are added a further three may be specified - and so on.

Relation	Title
Download	CWVC GRAPE Data Directory
Logo	GRAPE Logo
Documentation	BADC Doc: GRAPE Background Information
Documentation	BADC Doc: GRAPE news items
Documentation	Oxford University GRAPE website
Documentation	Other CWVC Projects
Documentation	The ATSR Website

Parent Data Entity
Define the parent of this record. There should probably only be one parent, but this is not enforced.

No data specified at present

Sub Data Entities
Lists all entities which have the current entity as their parent.

None

Associated Deployments

Parameters - summary

PHASE	CLOUDTYPES	CLOUDS	ATMOSPHERE
EARTH SCIENCE	NULL	CLOUDTOPPRESSURE	CLOUDFRACTION
FREQUENCY	CLOUDAMOUNT	CLOUDIMAGES	CLOUDICEWATERCONTENT
ICE	CLOUDLIQUIDWATER	THICKNESS	CLOUDOPTICALDEPTH

Parameters - details
Parameters to describe the data - with vocab URL and term IDs for further classification. Note, three parameters can be added at once; after these are added a further three may be specified - and so on.

Label	Vocab Term URL	Vocab Term ID
PHASE	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL
CLOUDTYPES	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL
CLOUDS	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/P141	NULL
ATMOSPHERE	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/P131	NULL
EARTH SCIENCE	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/P111	GCAT0001
NULL	general_units	0
CLOUDTOPPRESSURE	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL
CLOUDFRACTION	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL
FREQUENCY	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL
CLOUDAMOUNT	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL
CLOUDIMAGES	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL
CLOUDICEWATERCONTENT	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL
ICE	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL
CLOUDLIQUIDWATER	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL
THICKNESS	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL
CLOUDOPTICALDEPTH	http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/null	NULL

Data Coverage
Summary of the temporal and spatial data coverage for the data.

Spatial coverage
Max Y: 90.0
Min X: -180.0	Max X 180.0
Min Y -90.0

Temporal coverage
Start Date:	1995-01-01
End Date:	2009-12-31

Spatial resolution

No spatial resoultion information available.

Vertical extent

No vertical extent information available.

Responsible Parties
Parties responsible for the metadata - e.g. data curator. Responsible parties can have a role specified to make their function clearer. Multiple responsible parties can be specified.

Role	Name	URI
Data Curator	badc.nerc.ac.uk	http://badc.nerc.ac.uk

Other Info
Other miscellaneous information. Note, update frequency relates to the update frequency of the underlying data, not the metadata.

Dataset language

English

Update frequency

irregular

Links and Services
	Downloadable XML version of this record

Not all information in this record may be rendered in this view. Please see the XML version for complete content

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