Evaluating the Infrared Spectral Signature of CNRM-CM6-1 in Clear-Sky Conditions Using IASI Observations
For climate scientists and model developers, one of the most rigorous tests a general circulation model (GCM) can undergo is direct comparison of its simulated top-of-atmosphere radiance with high-resolution satellite observations under controlled conditions. Clear-sky scenes over oceans offer the perfect natural laboratory: minimal cloud contamination, well-known surface emissivity, and a relatively homogeneous atmosphere. It is precisely in these conditions that the French CNRM-CM6-1 model (the atmosphere component of the CNRM contribution to CMIP6) has recently been put under the spectral microscope using observations from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). Why clear-sky, and why IASI? IASI, flying aboard the Metop satellites since 2006, remains the gold standard for hyperspectral infrared observations. With 8,461 channels covering 645–2,760 cm⁻¹ at 0.5 cm⁻¹ resolution (apodized), it resolves individual spectral lines of water vapor, CO₂, O₃, and numerous trace...