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The profile algorithm for microwave delay estimation from water vapor radiometer data
Author(s) -
Robinson Steven E.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1029/rs023i003p00401
Subject(s) - radiosonde , radiometer , microwave radiometer , algorithm , water vapor , remote sensing , environmental science , liquid water path , microwave , troposphere , meteorology , range (aeronautics) , path (computing) , radiometry , observable , numerical weather prediction , computer science , physics , geology , telecommunications , materials science , aerosol , quantum mechanics , composite material , programming language
A new algorithm has been developed for the estimation of tropospheric microwave path delays from water vapor radiometer (WVR) data, which does not require site and weather dependent empirical parameters to produce accuracy better than 0.3 cm of delay. Instead of taking the conventional linear approach, the new algorithm first uses the observables with an emission model to determine an approximate form of the vertical water vapor distribution, which is then explicitly integrated to estimate wet path delays in a second step. The intrinsic accuracy of this algorithm, excluding uncertainties caused by the radiometers and the emission model, has been examined for two channel WVR data using path delays and corresponding simulated observables computed from archived radiosonde data. It is found that annual rms errors for a wide range of sites average 0.18 cm in the absence of clouds, 0.22 cm in cloudy weather, and 0.19 cm overall. In clear weather, the new algorithm's accuracy is comparable to the best that can be obtained from conventional linear algorithms, while in cloudy weather it offers a 35% improvement.