Open AccessCloud liquid‐water profile retrieval algorithm and validation
Author(s) -
Rosenkranz Philip W.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2005jd005832
Subject(s) - radiosonde , advanced microwave sounding unit , depth sounding , remote sensing , environmental science , radiative transfer , microwave , atmospheric infrared sounder , meteorology , satellite , atmospheric sounding , relative humidity , water vapor , humidity , radiometry , geology , physics , optics , oceanography , quantum mechanics , astronomy
In the first stage of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit‐A/Humidity Sounder for Brazil (AIRS/AMSU/HSB) geophysical retrieval algorithm, cloud liquid‐water profiles are retrieved from the microwave measurements. These profiles are used in the forward radiative‐transfer calculation for microwave channels in subsequent retrieval steps. The retrieval of cloud liquid water is based on a model for moisture condensation in which the relative humidity for onset of clouds is a retrieved parameter, which makes the retrieval more robust with respect to errors in the retrieved temperature profile and horizontal inhomogeneities of the moisture field within an instrument footprint. Retrieved cloud liquid is compared with ground‐based radiometric measurements, and the vertical distribution is compared to relative humidity profiles from dedicated radiosondes launched underneath the Aqua satellite.