Figure 1. Visualisation of the Cloud optical depth variable (cmic_cot) from the Cloud Microphysics product for 2022-01-01 03:00 UTC.
Abstract
The cloud mycrophysics (CMIC), developed within the NWC SAF context, mainly aims to support
nowcasting applications. The main objective of this product is to provide detailed information on the
cloud microphysics. It may be used as input to an objective meso-scale analysis.The CMIC product is useful for the identification of precipitation clouds and useful for characterisation of rapidly
developing thunderstorms.The CMIC product contains information relevant to the cloud top (thermodynamical phase, cloud
particle size) or integrated on the full vertical extent (optical depth, liquid and ice water path).The CMIC retrieval algorithm first retrieves the thermodynamical phase through an empirical use of
T8.7μm-T10.8μm, T10.8μm and the CT cloud type itself complemented (only during daytime) by
an combined analysis of the measured and simulated 0.6μm / 1.6μm or 1.6μm / 2.25μm reflectances.The additional microphysics parameters are obtained only in daytime conditions through the
comparison of measured and simulated 0.6μm and 1.6μm reflectances.For further information please view the following documents:
Format
NetCDF4
Basepath, Filename Template and Data Access
On NCI (requires an NCI account and membership of the rv74 data collection)
Base path: /g/data/rv74/satellite-products/arc/der/himawari-ahi/cloud/cmic/latest/<year>/<month>/<day>/
Filename Template: S_NWC_CMIC_<satellite>_HIMA-N-NR_<year><month><day>T<hour><minute>00Z.nc
<satellite>: HIMA08 or HIMA09
On THREDDS (publicly available, no NCI account required)
Bureau of Meteorology - Satellite Derived Products (rv74) THREDDS
Base Path: satellite-products/arc/der/himawari-ahi/cloud/cmic/latest/<year>/<month>/<day>/
Filename Template: S_NWC_CMIC_<satellite>_HIMA-N-NR_<year><month><day>T<hour><minute>00Z.nc
<satellite>: HIMA08 or HIMA09
Version
Version 2.0: Initial release. Processed using EUMETSAT NWCSAF GEO software, version v2021.1. Input data includes Himawari-AHI data, NOAA's GFS 0.5 degree 6 and 12 hour forecasts and Bureau of Meteorology GAMSSA Sea Surface Temperature.
License
Update Frequency
Monthly with 3 month data latency
Temporal extents (YYYY/MM/DD)
2015/07/07 - present (with 3 month data latency)
Spatial Extents
81N ~ 81S, 59E ~ 222E
Owner
Bureau of Meteorology
Contact
Satellite Science Team, Research, Bureau of Meteorology
Credit
Many thanks to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) for providing Himawari-AHI data and NOAA for providing GFS data.
Cloud Microphysics data derived from satellite imagery processed by the Bureau of Meteorology from Himawari-AHI data provided by the Japan Meteorological Agency using software provided by EUMETSAT NWCSAF.
Metadata Example
netcdf S_NWC_CMIC_HIMA08_HIMA-N-NR_20220101T030000Z {
dimensions:
ny = 5500 ;
nx = 5500 ;
pal03_colors = 256 ;
pal_RGB = 3 ;
pal05_colors = 256 ;
pal04_colors = 256 ;
pal01_colors = 256 ;
pal02_colors = 256 ;
variables:ushort cmic_conditions(ny, nx) ;
cmic_conditions:long_name = "Common geophysical and processing conditions" ;
cmic_conditions:valid_range = 1US, 65535US ;
cmic_conditions:_FillValue = 0US ;
cmic_conditions:flag_mask = 1US, 6US, 6US, 6US, 8US, 48US, 48US, 48US, 64US, 128US, 768US, 768US, 768US, 3072US, 3072US, 3072US, 12288US, 12288US, 12288US, 49152US, 49152US, 49152US ;
cmic_conditions:flag_values = 1US, 2US, 4US, 6US, 8US, 16US, 32US, 48US, 64US, 128US, 256US, 512US, 768US, 1024US, 2048US, 3072US, 4096US, 8192US, 12288US, 16384US, 32768US, 49152US ;
cmic_conditions:flag_meanings = "space night day twilight sunglint land sea coast not_used not_used all_satellite_channels_available useful_satellite_channels_missing mandatory_satellite_channels_missing all_NWP_fields_available useful_NWP_fields_missing mandatory_NWP_fields_missing all_product_data_available useful_product_data_missing mandatory_product_data_missing all_auxiliary_data_available useful_auxiliary_data_missing mandatory_auxiliary_data_missing" ;
cmic_conditions:comment = "Common geophysical and processing conditions" ;
cmic_conditions:grid_mapping = "geostationary" ;
ushort cmic_cot(ny, nx) ;
cmic_cot:standard_name = "atmosphere_optical_thickness_due_to_cloud" ;
cmic_cot:long_name = "NWC GEO CMIC Cloud Optical Thickness" ;
cmic_cot:scale_factor = 0.01f ;
cmic_cot:add_offset = 0.f ;
cmic_cot:units = "1" ;
cmic_cot:valid_range = 0US, 32000US ;
cmic_cot:_FillValue = 65535US ;
cmic_cot:ancillary_variables = "cmic_status_flag cmic_conditions cmic_quality cmic_cot_pal" ;
cmic_cot:coordinates = "lon lat" ;
cmic_cot:grid_mapping = "geostationary" ;
ubyte cmic_cot_pal(pal03_colors, pal_RGB) ;
cmic_cot_pal:long_name = "RGB palette for cmic_cot" ;
cmic_cot_pal:valid_range = 0UB, 255UB ;
cmic_cot_pal:colormodel = "RGB" ;
cmic_cot_pal:comment = "Palette applicable to field cmic_cot" ;
ushort cmic_iwp(ny, nx) ;
cmic_iwp:standard_name = "atmosphere_cloud_ice_content" ;
cmic_iwp:long_name = "NWC GEO CMIC cloud Ice Water Path" ;
cmic_iwp:scale_factor = 0.001f ;
cmic_iwp:add_offset = 0.f ;
cmic_iwp:units = "kg m-2" ;
cmic_iwp:valid_range = 0US, 4000US ;
cmic_iwp:_FillValue = 65535US ;
cmic_iwp:ancillary_variables = "cmic_status_flag cmic_conditions cmic_quality cmic_iwp_pal" ;
cmic_iwp:coordinates = "lon lat" ;
cmic_iwp:grid_mapping = "geostationary" ;
ubyte cmic_iwp_pal(pal05_colors, pal_RGB) ;
cmic_iwp_pal:long_name = "RGB palette for cmic_iwp" ;
cmic_iwp_pal:valid_range = 0UB, 255UB ;
cmic_iwp_pal:colormodel = "RGB" ;
cmic_iwp_pal:comment = "Palette applicable to field cmic_iwp" ;
ushort cmic_lwp(ny, nx) ;
cmic_lwp:standard_name = "atmosphere_cloud_liquid_water_content" ;
cmic_lwp:long_name = "NWC GEO CMIC Cloud Liquid Water Path" ;
cmic_lwp:scale_factor = 0.001f ;
cmic_lwp:add_offset = 0.f ;
cmic_lwp:units = "kg m-2" ;
cmic_lwp:valid_range = 0US, 4000US ;
cmic_lwp:_FillValue = 65535US ;
cmic_lwp:ancillary_variables = "cmic_status_flag cmic_conditions cmic_quality cmic_lwp_pal" ;
cmic_lwp:coordinates = "lon lat" ;
cmic_lwp:grid_mapping = "geostationary" ;
ubyte cmic_lwp_pal(pal04_colors, pal_RGB) ;
cmic_lwp_pal:long_name = "RGB palette for cmic_lwp" ;
cmic_lwp_pal:valid_range = 0UB, 255UB ;
cmic_lwp_pal:colormodel = "RGB" ;
cmic_lwp_pal:comment = "Palette applicable to field cmic_lwp" ;
ubyte cmic_phase(ny, nx) ;
cmic_phase:standard_name = "thermodynamic_phase_of_cloud_water_particles_at_cloud_top" ;
cmic_phase:long_name = "NWC GEO CMIC Cloud Top Phase" ;
cmic_phase:valid_range = 1UB, 5UB ;
cmic_phase:_FillValue = 255UB ;
cmic_phase:ancillary_variables = "cmic_status_flag cmic_conditions cmic_quality cmic_phase_pal" ;
cmic_phase:coordinates = "lon lat" ;
cmic_phase:comment = "1: Liquid; 2: Ice; 3: Mixed; 4: Cloud-free 5: Undefined (separability problems)" ;
cmic_phase:flag_values = 1UB, 2UB, 3UB, 4UB, 5UB ;
cmic_phase:flag_meanings = "Liquid Ice Mixed Cloud-free Undefined_separability_problems" ;
cmic_phase:grid_mapping = "geostationary" ;
ubyte cmic_phase_pal(pal01_colors, pal_RGB) ;
cmic_phase_pal:long_name = "RGB palette for cmic_phase" ;
cmic_phase_pal:valid_range = 0UB, 255UB ;
cmic_phase_pal:colormodel = "RGB" ;
cmic_phase_pal:comment = "Palette applicable to field cmic_phase" ;
ushort cmic_quality(ny, nx) ;
cmic_quality:long_name = "Common Quality Indicators" ;
cmic_quality:valid_range = 1US, 56US ;
cmic_quality:_FillValue = 0US ;
cmic_quality:flag_mask = 1US, 2US, 4US, 56US, 56US, 56US, 56US ;
cmic_quality:flag_values = 1US, 2US, 4US, 8US, 16US, 24US, 32US ;
cmic_quality:flag_meanings = "nodata internal_consistency temporal_consistency good questionable bad interpolated" ;
cmic_quality:comment = "Common Quality Indicators" ;
cmic_quality:grid_mapping = "geostationary" ;
ushort cmic_reff(ny, nx) ;
cmic_reff:standard_name = "effective_radius_of_cloud_condensed_water_particles_at_cloud_top" ;
cmic_reff:long_name = "NWC GEO CMIC Cloud Drop Effective Radius" ;
cmic_reff:scale_factor = 1.e-08f ;
cmic_reff:add_offset = 0.f ;
cmic_reff:units = "m" ;
cmic_reff:valid_range = 0US, 32000US ;
cmic_reff:_FillValue = 65535US ;
cmic_reff:ancillary_variables = "cmic_status_flag cmic_conditions cmic_quality cmic_reff_pal" ;
cmic_reff:coordinates = "lon lat" ;
cmic_reff:grid_mapping = "geostationary" ;
ubyte cmic_reff_pal(pal02_colors, pal_RGB) ;
cmic_reff_pal:long_name = "RGB palette for cmic_reff" ;
cmic_reff_pal:valid_range = 0UB, 255UB ;
cmic_reff_pal:colormodel = "RGB" ;
cmic_reff_pal:comment = "Palette applicable to field cmic_reff" ;
ushort cmic_status_flag(ny, nx) ;
cmic_status_flag:standard_name = "status_flag" ;
cmic_status_flag:long_name = "Information on specific NWC GEO CMIC processing RGB palette for cmic_phase" ;
cmic_status_flag:valid_range = 0US, 2047US ;
cmic_status_flag:_FillValue = 32768US ;
cmic_status_flag:flag_mask = 1US, 2US, 4US, 8US, 16US, 32US, 64US, 128US, 256US, 512US, 1024US ;
cmic_status_flag:flag_values = 1US, 2US, 4US, 8US, 16US, 32US, 64US, 128US, 256US, 512US, 1024US ;
cmic_status_flag:flag_meanings = "Cloud-free High_resolution_satellite_data_used Combined_use_of_16um_22um_for_phase_retrieval No_retrieved_phase_no_reliable_Reff_Cot_method Mixed_phase_no_reliable_Reff_Cot_method Measurement_incoherent_with_simulation_no_reliable_Reff_Cot_method Too_much_overlap_in_simulation_no_reliable_Reff_Cot_method 16um_used_for_reff_cot_retrieval 22um_used_for_reff_cot_retrieval 38um_used_for_reff_cot_retrieval Multilayer_cloud_suspected" ;
cmic_status_flag:coordinates = "lon lat" ;
cmic_status_flag:comment = " Palette applicable to field cmic_phase" ;
cmic_status_flag:grid_mapping = "geostationary" ;
float nx(nx) ;
nx:standard_name = "projection_x_coordinate" ;
nx:long_name = "X Georeferenced Coordinate for each pixel count" ;
nx:units = "m" ;
float ny(ny) ;
ny:standard_name = "projection_y_coordinate" ;
ny:long_name = "Y Georeferenced Coordinate for each pixel count" ;
ny:units = "m" ;
float geostationary ;
geostationary:proj_name = "GEOS141" ;
geostationary:sweep_angle_axis = "y" ;
geostationary:false_northing = 0LL ;
geostationary:grid_mapping_name = "geostationary" ;
geostationary:false_easting = 0LL ;
geostationary:satellite_height = 35785863. ;
geostationary:semi_major_axis = 6378137. ;
geostationary:semi_minor_axis = 6356752.3 ;
geostationary:perspective_point_height = 35785863. ;
geostationary:GeoTransform = -5500000., 2000., 0., 5500000., 0., -2000. ;
geostationary:longitude_of_projection_origin = 140.7 ;
geostationary:proj4 = "+proj=geos +lon_0=140.7 +h=35785863 +x_0=0 +y_0=0 +a=6378137 +b=6356752.3 +units=m +no_defs" ;
geostationary:spatial_ref = "PROJCS[\"unnamed\",GEOGCS[\"unnamed ellipse\",DATUM[\"unknown\",SPHEROID[\"unnamed\",6378137,298.2570248822731]],PRIMEM[\"Greenwich\",0],UNIT[\"degree\",0.0174532925199433]],PROJECTION[\"Geostationary_Satellite\"],PARAMETER[\"central_meridian\",140.7],PARAMETER[\"satellite_height\",35785863],PARAMETER[\"false_easting\",0],PARAMETER[\"false_northing\",0],UNIT[\"Meter\",1]]" ;
// global attributes:
:Conventions = "CF-1.6" ;
:title = "NWC GEO Cloud Microphysics Product" ;
:institution = "Bureau of Meteorology" ;
:source = "NWC/GEO version v2021.1" ;
:comment = "Copyright 2022, EUMETSAT, All Rights Reserved" ;
:references = "http://nwc-saf.eumetsat.int" ;
:contact = "safnwchd@aemet.es" ;
:summary = "Cloud Microphysics Product of the NWC/GEO. Information on cloud microphysics, as cloud thermodynamical phase, drop effective radius, cloud optical thickness and liquid water/ice path" ;
:keywords = "Cloud Droplet Size, Cloud Optical Thickness, Cloud Liquid Water, Cloud Ice" ;
:keywords_vocabulary = "GCMD Science Keywords" ;
:id = "S_NWC_CMIC_HIMA08_HIMA-N-NR_20220101T030000Z.nc" ;
:naming_authority = "Bureau of Meteorology" ;
:cdm_data_type = "Image" ;
:date_created = "2022-12-27T08:57:31Z" ;
:creator_name = "Bureau of Meteorology" ;
:creator_url = "www.bom.gov.au" ;
:creator_email = "SI-Research-SS@bom.gov.au" ;
:project = "NWC/GEO" ;
:processing_level = "Level 2" ;
:time_coverage_start = "2022-01-01T03:00:20Z" ;
:time_coverage_end = "2022-01-01T03:09:40Z" ;
:license = "EUMETSAT user policy" ;
:saf = "NWC/GEO" ;
:product_name = "CMIC" ;
:product_algorithm_version = "2.1" ;
:satellite_identifier = "HIMA08" ;
:sub-satellite_longitude = 140.7f ;
:centre_projection_longitude = 140.7f ;
:nominal_product_time = "2022-01-01T03:00:00Z" ;
:region_id = "HIMA-N" ;
:region_name = "HIMA-N; CENTRE=0N 140.7E; SIZE=5500x5500pix" ;
:spatial_resolution = 2.f ;
:cgms_projection = "+proj=geos +coff=2750.500000 +cfac=20466275.000000 +loff=2750.500000 +lfac=20466275.000000 +spp=140.699997 +r_eq=6378.137000 +r_pol=6356.752300 +h=42164.000000" ;
:gdal_projection = "+proj=geos +a=6378137.000000 +b=6356752.300000 +lon_0=140.699997 +h=35785863.000000 +sweep=y" ;
:gdal_geotransform_table = -5499996.f, 1999.998f, 0.f, 5499996.f, 0.f, -1999.998f ;
:gdal_xgeo_up_left = -5499996.f ;
:gdal_ygeo_up_left = 5499996.f ;
:gdal_xgeo_low_right = 5499996.f ;
:gdal_ygeo_low_right = -5499996.f ;
:product_quality = 83.08832f ;
:product_completeness = 84.87659f ;
:geospatial_lat_max = 81.04704f ;
:geospatial_lat_min = -81.04704f ;
:geospatial_lon_max = 180.f ;
:geospatial_lon_min = -180.f ;
:product_version = "2.0" ;
:history = "Fri Jan 20 06:28:25 2023: ncatted -O -a product_version,global,c,c,2.0 /scratch/er8/vov548/output/nwcsaf_2021.1_h8_reprocessing/cmic//S_NWC_CMIC_HIMA08_HIMA-N-NR_20220101T030000Z.nc\nFri Jan 20 06:26:44 2023: ncks -O -L 9 --cnk_dmn x,5500 --cnk_dmn y,20 /scratch/er8/vov548/output/nwcsaf_2021.1_h8_compressed/cmic/S_NWC_CMIC_HIMA08_HIMA-N-NR_20220101T030000Z.nc /scratch/er8/vov548/output/nwcsaf_2021.1_h8_reprocessing/cmic//S_NWC_CMIC_HIMA08_HIMA-N-NR_20220101T030000Z.nc\nThu Dec 29 00:25:10 2022: ncatted -O -a product_version,global,c,c,2.0 /scratch/er8/vov548/output/nwcsaf_2021.1_h8//S_NWC_CMIC_HIMA08_HIMA-N-NR_20220101T030000Z.nc\nThu Dec 29 00:23:28 2022: ncks -O -L 9 --cnk_dmn x,5500 --cnk_dmn y,20 /scratch/er8/vov548/output/nwcsaf_2021.1_h8/S_NWC_CMIC_HIMA08_HIMA-N-NR_20220101T030000Z.nc /scratch/er8/vov548/output/nwcsaf_2021.1_h8//S_NWC_CMIC_HIMA08_HIMA-N-NR_20220101T030000Z.nc\n2022-12-27T08:57:31Z (null) Product Created by NWC/GEO v2021.1\n2022-12-27T08:57:31Z (null) GEO-CMIC.exe 2022-01-01T03:00:00Z /scratch/er8/vov548/ws/nwcsaf_2021.1_h8/install/tmp66z3dl8b/config/safnwc_HIMAN./scratch/er8/vov548/ws/nwcsaf_2021.1_h8/install/tmp66z3dl8b/config/safnwc_CMIC.c2.1 /scratch/er8/vov548/ws/nwcsaf_2021.1_h8/install/tmp66z3dl8b/config/safnwc_CMIC.c2.1" ;
:NCO = "netCDF Operators version 4.7.7 (Homepage = http://nco.sf.net, Code = http://github.com/nco/nco)" ;
}