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Remotely sensed specific humidity: Development of a derived product from the GOES Imager channel 3
Author(s) -
Moody Jennie L.,
Wimmers Anthony J.,
Devenport J. Clay
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1998gl900222
Subject(s) - troposphere , dryness , water vapor , humidity , environmental science , radiance , brightness temperature , relative humidity , atmospheric sciences , channel (broadcasting) , moisture , remote sensing , meteorology , brightness , geology , optics , geography , physics , computer science , medicine , surgery , computer network
The analytic expression relating GOES‐E/W channel 3 water‐vapor radiance to relative humidity is used along with upper‐troposphere temperature observations to derive a high horizontal resolution brightness temperature product that correlates well with measured specific humidity. Moisture information in raw water‐vapor images is obscured by strong horizontal temperature gradients in the upper troposphere. This information is exposed in the derived product. Our results illustrate that the ability to remotely sense and resolve differences in water‐vapor content increases with atmospheric dryness.