Published March 16, 2025 | Version 2
Publication Open

Best Practice Protocol for the validation of Aerosol, Cloud, and Precipitation Profiles (ACPPV)

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon National Observatory of Athens
  • 2. ROR icon Langley Research Center
  • 3. ROR icon European Space Research and Technology Centre
  • 4. ROR icon Marshall Space Flight Center
  • 5. ROR icon University of Helsinki
  • 6. ROR icon Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR)
  • 7. Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS)
  • 8. ROR icon University of Oklahoma
  • 9. ROR icon Cyprus Institute
  • 10. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze dell'Atmosfera e del Clima
  • 11. EDMO icon National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • 12. ROR icon European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
  • 13. ROR icon Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
  • 14. ROR icon Finnish Meteorological Institute
  • 15. ROR icon Norwegian Institute for Air Research
  • 16. ROR icon Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  • 17. NASA Langley Research Center
  • 18. ROR icon Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research
  • 19. EDMO icon Leibniz-Institute for Tropospheric Research
  • 20. ROR icon University of Cologne
  • 21. ROR icon National Research Council - Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis
  • 22. ROR icon University of Reading
  • 23. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Faculty of Sciences
  • 24. ROR icon Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
  • 25. ROR icon Goddard Space Flight Center
  • 26. ROR icon University of Leicester
  • 27. Royal Netherlands Meteorlogical Institute (KNMI)
  • 28. ROR icon University of Wisconsin–Madison
  • 29. Kyushu University
  • 30. EDMO icon University of Wisconsin-Madison, Space Science and Engineering Center
  • 31. ROR icon National Institute for Environmental Studies
  • 32. Environment and Climate Change, Toronto, Canada
  • 33. ROR icon Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium
  • 34. Tokai University, Research and Information Center (TRIC)
  • 35. Cooperative Institute for Research in Atmosphere, Colorado State University
  • 36. ROR icon Wallops Flight Facility
  • 37. ROR icon Universidade Cidade de São Paulo
  • 38. ROR icon Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares
  • 39. ROR icon NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory
  • 40. ROR icon Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • 41. ROR icon National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience
  • 42. European Space Agency
  • 43. ROR icon National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • 44. ROR icon University of Crete
  • 45. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Fakultät für Physik
  • 46. ROR icon Nagoya University
  • 47. ROR icon National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
  • 48. ROR icon The University of Tokyo
  • 49. University of Utah, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Salt Lake City, United States
  • 50. ROR icon University of Westminster
  • 51. EDMO icon Météo France, National Center for Meteorological Research
  • 52. ROR icon National University of Singapore
  • 53. ROR icon Barcelona Supercomputing Center
  • 54. ROR icon Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center
  • 55. NASA Global Modelling and Assimilation Office
  • 56. ROR icon University of North Dakota
  • 57. U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington
  • 58. EDMO icon Meteorological Research Institute, Japan Meteorological Agency
  • 59. ROR icon European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites
  • 60. EUMETSAT
  • 61. CS Group - Germany GmbH, Berliner Allee
  • 62. ROR icon Brookhaven National Laboratory
  • 63. ROR icon Stony Brook University

Description

Validation activities are critical to ensure the quality, credibility, and integrity of Earth observation data. With the deployment of advanced active remote sensors in space, a clear need arises for establishing best practices in the field of cloud, aerosol and precipitation profile validation. This publication fulfills this need, by proposing common practices, capturing lessons learned from earlier missions. The ACPPV publication is a result of an international collaboration of 97 scientists from 58 Institutions and Space Agencies, reviewed and accepted by the CEOS Working Group for Calibration and Validation (action item CV-22-01). The approaches and recommendations included, cover a range of issues, including correlative site and instrument selection, data processing and quality control, campaign criteria, configurations, scenarios, collocation methods, suggestions on issues concerning scene representativeness, and intercomparison methodologies. Moreover, guidance on the statistical validation through intercomparison between satellite-based remote sensing observations, and on the near-real time validation through monitoring in an NWP data assimilation system are included. To this end, the scientific communities involved in past missions have reviewed lessons learned and identified areas where convergence on similar approaches is beneficial. Finally, existing gaps in our Cal/Val knowledge are summarized. Given the complexity and diversity of geophysical scenarios and retrievals of aerosol, cloud, and precipitation regimes, the ACPPV document is aimed at knowledge exchange and conveying lessons learned, rather than definitions on single and strict protocols that have been agreed upon in some other domains with fewer degrees of freedom. 

Files

ACPPV_ΒestPractice_Book_final.pdf

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Additional details

Funding

European Space Agency
ACPV Contract no. 4000140645/23/I-NS
European Union
PANGEA4CalVal Grant Agreement no. 101079201
European Commission
ATMO-ACCESS Grant Agreement no. 101008004
European Union
CERTAINTY Grant Agreement No. 101137680
European Space Agency
AIRSENSE Contract No. 4000142902/23/I-NS
Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation
REVEAL Project Number: 7222
European Space Agency
L2A+ Contract no. 4000139424/22/I-NS
European Space Agency
ECAMS Contract No. 4000146378/24/I-DT-bgh
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
80NSSC21K1361
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NA24NESX432C0001
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
WBS 378289.04.05.02
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
80NSSC21K2045
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
80NSSC19K0681
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
80NM0018D0004
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
JSPS KAKENHI grant JP24H00275
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
JSPS KAKENHI grants JP22K03721
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
JSPS KAKENHI grants JP24H00275
European Union
grant agreements No 871115
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
01LK2001A-K
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
01LK2002A-G

Dates

Issued
2025-03-16