Visualization of the MTG-IRS L2 data to enhance usage in nowcasting

The Infrared Sounder (IRS) onboard MTG-S1 satellite is planned to be launched in July 2025. IRS will be the first sounding instrument in geostationary orbit measuring over Europe in every 30 minutes. EUMETSAT will provide temperature and water vapour profiles, along with instability indices derived from these measurements. So far, we used IASI L2 data for IRS proxy since the measurements and the algorithms creating temperature and humidity profiles are very similar for these instruments. In previous studies, we found that IASI L2 profiles can be used complementary to NWP and radio sounding data in nowcasting.

For user preparation, an IRS L2 test dataset has been provided to help users get familiarized with the data. Although, the data has been mostly created for technical purposes, it can also be used to test various visualization methods. The scanning of the IRS instrument differs from IASI and some of the information retrieved is different as well. Visualizing the IRS L2 data for forecasters, in a way they can easily assess it, will be a crucial part in the data uptake. We anticipate that including the quality indicators in any way of the IRS L2 data usage will be essential.

In this poster, we will show different visualization methods of the IRS L2 data.