A239-03
The Polar Radiant Energy in the Far InfraRed Experiment (PREFIRE): Characterizing Far InfraRed Emission from Earth’s Polar Regions

Wednesday, 16 December 2020: 10:18
Virtual
Tristan S L'Ecuyer1, Brian Drouin2, Aronne J Merrelli3, Xianglei Huang4, Brian H Kahn5, Jennifer E Kay6, Nicole Schlegel7, Nathaniel Miller8, Colten Alexander Peterson9, Sharmila Padmanabhan10 and Boon Lim2, (1)University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Madison, WI, United States, (2)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (3)University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States, (4)University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (5)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (6)University of Colorado at Boulder, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), Boulder, CO, United States, (7)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States, (8)Space Science and Engineering Center, Madison, WI, United States, (9)University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (10)Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, CA, United States
Recorded Presentation
Abstract:
The Polar Radiant Energy in the Far Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE) seeks to fill a significant gap in our knowledge of the spatial and temporal variations of thermal energy exchanges in polar regions by measuring spectral emission across the mid- and far-infrared. Utilizing new lightweight, low-power, ambient temperature detectors capable of making high-quality measurements at wavelengths up to at least 50 microns, PREFIRE observations will document, for the first time, the spectral, spatial, and temporal variations of polar far-infrared emission. This presentation introduces the motivation and objectives of the PREFIRE mission. The mission operations concept and theoretical basis for PREFIRE’s data products will be described and a pathway to utilizing these products to evaluate and improve polar climate prediction will be articulated. Estimates of spectral surface emissivity, water vapor, cloud properties, and the atmospheric greenhouse effect derived from PREFIRE measurements offer the potential to advance models of thermal fluxes in the cold, dry conditions characteristic of the polar regions and upper troposphere.
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