Utilizing CLAVR-x to model sensitivity of cloud products to satellite sensor performance

Sensor performance plays a central role in the quality of weather data products produced by weather satellite observing systems. Next generation sensors harness commercial technologies and small satellite architectures that may include fewer spectral bands. The Aerospace Corporation is developing an end-to-end modeling and simulation testbed for performance analysis using CLAVR-x, a cloud detection algorithm made available by the Cooperative Institute of Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) at the University of Wisconsin. The current version of the testbed is being developed specifically for the U.S. Space Force’s EO/IR Weather System (EWS) mission to fill two top priority observational needs: cloud characterization and theater weather imagery. We present simulations of sensor performance based on MODIS data, characterizing the sensitivity of cloud products to sensor errors.