Abstract. Today, commercial microwave radiometers profilers (MWRP) are robust and unattended instruments providing real time accurate atmospheric observations at ~ 1 min temporal resolution under nearly all-weather conditions. Common commercial units operate in the 20–60 GHz frequency range and are able to retrieve profiles of temperature, vapour density, and relative humidity. Temperature and humidity profiles retrieved from MWRP data are used here to feed tools developed for processing radiosonde observations to obtain values of forecast indices (FI) commonly used in operational meteorology. The FI considered here include K index, Total Totals, KO index, Showalter index, T1 Gust, Fog Threat, Lifted Index, S Index (STT), Jefferson Index, MDPI, Thompson Index, TQ Index, and CAPE. Values of FI computed from radiosonde and MWRP-retrieved temperature and humidity profiles are compared in order to quantitatively demonstrate the level of agreement and the value of continuous FI updates. This analysis is repeated for two sites at midlatitude, the first one located at low altitude in Central Europe (Lindenberg, Germany), while the second one located at high altitude in North America (Whistler, Canada). It is demonstrated that FI computed from MWRP well correlate with those computed from radiosondes, with the additional advantage of nearly continuous update. The accuracy of MWRP-derived FI is tested against radiosondes, taken as a reference, showing different performances depending upon index and environmental situation. Overall, FI computed from MWRP retrievals agree well with radiosonde values, with correlation coefficients usually above 0.8 (with few exceptions). We conclude that MWRP retrievals can be used to produce meaningful FI, with the advantage (with respect to radiosondes) of nearly continuous update.
Comments on "Research on Retrieval of Atmospheric Temperature and Humidity Profiles from combined Ground-based Microwave Radiometer and Cloud Radar Observations"
