Water vapor profiling with SSM/T-2 data employing an extended optimal estimation approach

Markus J. Rieder; Gottfried Kirchengast

doi:10.1117/12.319504

19 August 1998 Water vapor profiling with SSM/T-2 data employing an extended optimal estimation approach

Markus J. Rieder, Gottfried Kirchengast

Proceedings Volume 3503, Microwave Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Environment; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.319504
Event: Asia-Pacific Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere, Environment, and Space, 1998, Beijing, China

Abstract

The feasibility of retrieving water vapor profiles from SSM/T-2 data is demonstrated by usage of an extended Bayesian inversion algorithm. The SSM/T-2 downlooking sounder data consisting of brightness temperature measurements in five microwave bands sensitive to water vapor absorption can be used, together with total water vapor content data, in order to compute water vapor profiles of about 3-5 km vertical resolution. The corresponding radiative transfer equation yields a nonlinear mapping of state space into measurement space. This is reflected in a significant nonlinearity in the cost functional which has to be minimized, and necessitates several extensions of the well known optimal estimation inversion. We supplemented the optimal estimation by simulated annealing and iterative a priori lightweighting. The resulting a hybrid algorithm furnishes capability for acting as an important source of height-resolved meteorological information. Retrievals based on SSM/T-2 data were compared to atmospheric analyses of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts. A statistical validation for the retrieved profiles is presented. The comparisons indicate an approximate accuracy of about 15 to 20 percent for relative humidity. The developed algorithm can be readily extended to include all sensible sources of additional information, on the state as well as from additional measurements.

Citation Download Citation

Markus J. Rieder and Gottfried Kirchengast "Water vapor profiling with SSM/T-2 data employing an extended optimal estimation approach", Proc. SPIE 3503, Microwave Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Environment, (19 August 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.319504

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