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Aerosol Retrieval Network

Catalysts is recommended by…can be more harm than good in the hands of careless researchers. The TAMP team members see the need to share methods with the user community. To be sure, the development of the system proposed by the TAMP team is a difficult endeavour. Reviewing TAMP team member participants, we are reassured that they are qualified to attempt its construction. Catalysts has performed innovative development in the use of GPU processors to speed up remote sensing algorithm processing in order to enable the next generation of computationally intensive retrievals such as the Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties (GRASP) algorithm. Several of the key personnel have had long previous tenures at NASA centers, including Alexander Cede who leads Luftbick. It is our experience that small- to medium-sized software companies such as Catalysts and softback are more flexible and efficient in developing systems. By their small nature, such companies tend to be more open to input from the community. Teams tend to be small and committed, and personal relationships between developers and power users can be developed. We make this point in contrast to some of the significant software issues related to large contractors and Soumi NPP. Finally, senior advisor staff includes Dr. Oleg Dubovik of the University of Lille-one of the world’s leading remote sensing developers and radiative transfer theorists. Clearly the consortium is incorporating the right people for the job at hand. Dr. Dubovik’s recent work on the (GRASP) retrieval has excited the community. There is hope that GRASP can replace closed and in house algorithm development efforts by one (or several) open effort where all aspects (concept, routines, methodology, etc.) of the tool will be easily accessible to any researcher allowing their own contribution. This strategy has significant potential. An outcome of this then is a freeing of the community from closed-shop, one-size-fits-all retrievals to easy customization of satellite products for different users. Indeed, this is an open source model for retrievals-quite innovative and appropriate. However, GRASP is computationally intensive, and requires the processing expertise provided by this consortium to unlock its power. If TAMP is funded, ICAP members will gladly provide input to the Catalysts TAMP developer team to improve project efficacy. Catalysts TAMP representatives will be granted access to closed ICAP meetings on data usage and delivery. The ICAP community is excited by these technologies potential for the development of satellite products especially suited for operational and applied science use. It is a bold and innovative plan. We wish the project well in its scientific endeavours, and look forward to its successes.

Very Best Regards,

Angela Benedetti, ECMWF Cheng-Hsuan (Sarah) Lu, NCEP Taichu Tanaka, JMA

Peter R. Colarco, NASA GSFC Jeffrey S. Reid, NRL Thomas Sekiyama, JMA

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velopments of Catalysts,, emphasizinng  the beneffit  it will 

Catalysts has performed innovative development in the use of GPU processors to speed up remote

sensing algorithm processing in order to enable the next generation of computationally intensive re-

trievals such as the Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties (GRASP) algorithm.

My group and I support the atmospheric mission platform project with Catalysts and are very inter-ested to make use of the proposed infrastructure.

IAASARS/NOA expects that the project will enhance the aforementioned activities by introducing the

novel concept of exploiting synergistically optimized EO data products with atmospheric model simu-lations. The proposed integration is expected to

boost the interpretation of complementary infor-mation for atmospheric applications.

It is our experience that small- to medium-sized soft-ware companies such as Catalysts and softback are more flexible and efficient in developing systems.

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International Cooperative for Aerosol Prediction (ICAP/AEROCAST)

Max-Planck-Institut für MeteorologieNational Observatory of Athens (NOA/IAASARS)

Japan Meteorological Agency