scholarly journals Validation of stratospheric water vapour measurements from the airborne microwave radiometer AMSOS

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1635-1671 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Müller ◽  
N. Kämpfer ◽  
D. G. Feist ◽  
A. Haefele ◽  
M. Milz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapour ◽  
Microwave Radiometer ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Optimal Estimation ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Vertical Range ◽  
Stratospheric Water Vapour

Abstract. We present the validation of a water vapour dataset obtained by the Airborne Microwave Stratospheric Observing System AMSOS, a passive microwave radiometer operating at 183 GHz. Vertical profiles are retrieved from spectra by an optimal estimation method. The useful vertical range lies in the upper troposphere up to the mesosphere with an altitude resolution of 8 to 16 km and a horizontal resolution of about 57 km. Flight campaigns were performed once a year from 1998 to 2006 measuring the latitudinal distribution of water vapour from the tropics to the polar regions. The obtained profiles show clearly the main features of stratospheric water vapour in all latitudinal regions. Data are validated against a set of instruments comprising satellite, ground-based, airborne remote sensing and in-situ instruments. It appears that AMSOS profiles have a dry bias of 3–20%, when compared to satellite experiments. A good agreement with a difference of 3.3% was found between AMSOS and in-situ hygrosondes FISH and FLASH and an excellent matching of the lidar measurements from the DIAL instrument in the short overlap region in the upper troposphere.

scholarly journals Validation of stratospheric water vapour measurements from the airborne microwave radiometer AMSOS

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 3169-3183 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Müller ◽  
N. Kämpfer ◽  
D. G. Feist ◽  
A. Haefele ◽  
M. Milz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapour ◽  
Microwave Radiometer ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Optimal Estimation ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Vertical Range ◽  
Stratospheric Water Vapour

Abstract. We present the validation of a water vapour dataset obtained by the Airborne Microwave Stratospheric Observing System AMSOS, a passive microwave radiometer operating at 183 GHz. Vertical profiles are retrieved from spectra by an optimal estimation method. The useful vertical range lies in the upper troposphere up to the mesosphere with an altitude resolution of 8 to 16 km and a horizontal resolution of about 57 km. Flight campaigns were performed once a year from 1998 to 2006 measuring the latitudinal distribution of water vapour from the tropics to the polar regions. The obtained profiles show clearly the main features of stratospheric water vapour in all latitudinal regions. Data are validated against a set of instruments comprising satellite, ground-based, airborne remote sensing and in-situ instruments. It appears that AMSOS profiles have a dry bias of 0 to –20%, when compared to satellite experiments. Also a comparison between AMSOS and in-situ hygrosondes FISH and FLASH have been performed. A matching in the short overlap region in the upper troposphere of the lidar measurements from the DIAL instrument and the AMSOS dataset allowed water vapour profiling from the middle troposphere up to the mesosphere.

Intercomparison of Odin–SMR ozone profiles with ground-based millimetre-wave observations in the Arctic, the mid-latitudes, and the tropics

2007 ◽  
Vol 85 (11) ◽  
pp. 1097-1110 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Kopp ◽  
A Belova ◽  
E Diez y Riega V ◽  
J Groß ◽  
G Hochschild ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microwave Radiometer ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Optimal Estimation ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Millimetre Wave ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
Vertical Range ◽  
Millimeter Wave Radiometer ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Good Agreement

The sub-millimetre radiometer (SMR) on board the Odin satellite measures signatures of ozone in two bands centred at 501.8 and 544.6 GHz. From the measurements, ozone volume mixing ratio profiles in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere are retrieved using the Optimal Estimation Method. In this paper, the ozone profiles measured by Odin–SMR (level-2 data ver. 2.1 and 2.0, respectively) are compared to measurements taken by ground-based millimetre wave radiometers in the Arctic; at Kiruna, Sweden; in the mid-latitudes on the Zugspitze, Germany; and in the tropics at Mérida, Venezuela. The Kiruna Microwave Radiometer (KIMRA) covers the frequency range 195–224 GHz, and the Millimeter Wave Radiometer MIRA 2, which was operated on the Zugspitze and at Mérida, measures in the frequency band 268–281 GHz. From the measurements, ozone profiles in the vertical range between approximately 15–65 km were retrieved using the Optimal Estimation Method. Since the ground-based measurements have a lower vertical resolution than those of Odin the latter were degraded using the averaging kernels of the ground-based retrievals. The comparison of the resulting profiles to the ground-based data enables the identification of biases in the Odin measurements and their possible latitudinal variation. In general, a good agreement between satellite and ground-based measurements for the 501.8 GHz band was found in the stratosphere except for a negative bias in the Odin data of about 10–15% in the tropical measurements. The Odin measurements taken at 544.9 GHz yielded systematically 20–30% lower ozone mixing ratios in the middle stratosphere than the ground-based measurements at all sites. PACS No.: 92.60.hd

scholarly journals Middle atmosphere water vapour and dynamical features in aircraft measurements and ECMWF analyses

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Feist ◽  
A. J. Geer ◽  
S. Müller ◽  
N. Kämpfer
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapour ◽  
Middle Atmosphere ◽  
Microwave Radiometer ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Aircraft Measurements ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Dynamical Features ◽  
Stratospheric Water Vapour

Abstract. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) provides global analyses of atmospheric humidity from the ground to the lower mesosphere. Unlike in the troposphere, in the stratopshere no humidity observations are assimilated. Humidity analyses here are essentially the results of a free-running model constrained by the ECMWF's well-analysed wind fields. So far only the broad-scale features of the resulting stratospheric water vapour distribution have been validated. This study provides the first in-depth comparison of stratospheric humidity from ECMWF with observations from an airborne microwave radiometer that has measured the distribution of stratospheric water vapour over an altitude range of roughly 15–60 km on several flight campaigns since 1998. The aircraft measurements provide a horizontal resolution that cannot be achieved by current satellite instruments. This study examines dynamical features in the moisture fields such as filamentation and the vortex edge, finding that features in the ERA-40 humidity analyses often do correspond to real atmospheric events that are seen in the aircraft measurements. However, the comparisons also show that in general the ECMWF model produces an unrealistically moist mesosphere. As a result it cannot replicate the descent of relatively dry mesospheric air into the polar vortex in winter and spring.

scholarly journals Middle atmosphere water vapour and dynamical features in aircraft measurements and ECMWF analyses

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (20) ◽  
pp. 5291-5307 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Feist ◽  
A. J. Geer ◽  
S. Müller ◽  
N. Kämpfer
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapour ◽  
Middle Atmosphere ◽  
Microwave Radiometer ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Aircraft Measurements ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Dynamical Features ◽  
Stratospheric Water Vapour

Abstract. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) provides global analyses of atmospheric humidity from the ground to the lower mesosphere. Unlike in the troposphere, in the stratosphere no humidity observations are assimilated. Humidity analyses here are essentially the results of a free-running model constrained by the ECMWF's analysed wind fields. So far only the broad-scale features of the resulting stratospheric water vapour distribution have been validated. This study provides the first in-depth comparison of stratospheric humidity from ECMWF with observations from an airborne microwave radiometer that has measured the distribution of stratospheric water vapour over an altitude range of roughly 15–60 km on several flight campaigns since 1998. The aircraft measurements provide a horizontal resolution that cannot be achieved by current satellite instruments. This study examines dynamical features in the moisture fields such as filamentation and the vortex edge, finding that features in the ERA-40 humidity analyses often do correspond to real atmospheric events that are seen in the aircraft measurements. However, the comparisons also show that in general the ECMWF model produces an unrealistically moist mesosphere. As a result it cannot replicate the descent of relatively dry mesospheric air into the polar vortex in winter and spring.

scholarly journals Global distributions of nitric acid from IASI/MetOP measurements

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (20) ◽  
pp. 7949-7962 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Wespes ◽  
D. Hurtmans ◽  
C. Clerbaux ◽  
M. L. Santee ◽  
R. V. Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Estimation Method ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Optimal Estimation ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
Antarctic Polar Vortex

Abstract. This paper presents the first global distributions of HNO3 total columns acquired by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) instrument, launched onboard the MetOp platform in October 2006. IASI is an infrared nadir-looking Fourier transform spectrometer providing atmospheric radiance spectra at 0.5 cm−1 spectral resolution, from which temperature and infrared absorbing gas concentration profiles are retrieved with global Earth coverage twice a day. A first analysis of the IASI measurements in terms of information content demonstrates the possibility of retrieving a total column for HNO3 at all latitudes with a maximal sensitivity in the middle stratosphere. The retrievals are performed from IASI spectra in the atmospheric window using a fast radiative transfer model and inversion software (FORLI) relying on the Optimal Estimation Method. The operational processing of HNO3 total columns is achieved since March 2008. We show that FORLI-HNO3 performs well at all latitudes (RMS of the spectral residuals around 2.3×10−6 W/m2 sr m−1) and provides HNO3 total columns with on average statistical errors of about 12%, reaching the threshold value of 32% at the equatorial belt. The global distributions of the retrieved total columns for one year (from March 2008 to February 2009) are presented and discussed with emphasis given to seasonal and interhemispheric variations. Local seasonal variations at 6 specific locations are also described and discussed in comparison with MLS volume mixing ratios at 46.5 hPa. The seasonal cycle observed in Polar regions is highlighted, with maxima observed in fall-winter and minima during spring-summer. The denitrification inside the Antarctic polar vortex during winter is clearly revealed with unprecedented horizontal resolution: HNO3 columns decreasing down to about 1×1016 molecules cm−2 are observed, which is consistent with the lower values of temperature observed between 50 and 15 hPa (~20–25 km) and the resulting formation and sedimentation of polar stratospheric clouds. During the same period, the collar region of high quantities of HNO3 at the vortex edge is also observed around 65–60° S latitude. Preliminary correlations between IASI derived HNO3 and O3 columns inside the polar vortex are presented and discussed.

scholarly journals Global distributions of nitric acid from IASI/MetOP measurements

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 8035-8069 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Wespes ◽  
D. Hurtmans ◽  
C. Clerbaux ◽  
M. L. Santee ◽  
R. V. Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Estimation Method ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Optimal Estimation ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
Maximal Sensitivity ◽  
Antarctic Polar Vortex

Abstract. This paper presents the first global distributions of HNO3 acquired by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) instrument, launched onboard the MetOp platform in October 2006. IASI is an infrared nadir-looking Fourier transform spectrometer providing atmospheric radiance spectra at 0.5 cm−1 spectral resolution, from which temperature and infrared absorbing gas concentration profiles are retrieved with global Earth coverage twice a day. A first analysis of the IASI measurements in terms of information content demonstrates the possibility of retrieving a total column for HNO3 at all latitudes with a maximal sensitivity in the middle stratosphere. The retrievals are performed from IASI spectra in the atmospheric window using a fast radiative transfer model and inversion software relying on the Optimal Estimation Method. The operational processing of HNO3 is achieved since March 2008. The global distributions of the retrieved total columns for 10 months (from March to December 2008) are presented and discussed with emphasis given to seasonal and interhemispheric variations. Local trends at 6 specific locations are also described and discussed in comparison with MLS volume mixing ratios at 46.5 hPa. The seasonal cycle observed in Polar regions is highlighted, with maxima observed in fall and minima during spring-summer. The denitrification inside the Antarctic polar vortex during winter is clearly revealed with unprecedented horizontal resolution: HNO3 columns decreasing down to about 1×1016 molecules.cm−2 are observed, which is consistent with the lower values of temperature observed between 50 and 15 hPa (~20–25 km) and the resulting formation and sedimentation of polar stratospheric clouds. During the same period, the collar region of high quantities of HNO3 at the vortex edge is also observed around 65–60° S latitude. Preliminary correlations between IASI derived HNO3 and O3 columns inside the polar vortex are presented and discussed.

scholarly journals H<sub>2</sub><sup>16</sup>O and HDO measurements with IASI/MetOp

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (24) ◽  
pp. 9433-9447 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Herbin ◽  
D. Hurtmans ◽  
C. Clerbaux ◽  
L. Clarisse ◽  
P.-F. Coheur
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapour ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Optimal Estimation ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Geophysical Interpretation ◽  
Inversion Procedure ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Abstract. In this paper we analyze distributions of water vapour isotopologues in the troposphere using infrared spectra recorded by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), which operates onboard the Metop satellite in nadir geometry. The simultaneous uncorrelated retrievals of H216O and HDO are performed on radiance measurements using a line-by-line radiative transfer model and an inversion procedure based on the Optimal Estimation Method (OEM). The characterizations of the retrieved products in terms of vertical sensitivity and error budgets show that IASI measurements contain up to 6 independent pieces of information on the vertical distribution of H216O and up to 3.5 for HDO from the surface up to the upper troposphere (0–20 km). Although the purpose of the paper is not validation, a restricted comparison with sonde measurements shows that the retrieved H216O profiles capture the seasonal/latitudinal variations of the water content, with good accuracy in the lowest layer but with larger uncertainties higher in the free and upper troposphere. Our results then demonstrate the ability of the IASI instrument to monitor atmospheric isotopologic water vapour distributions and to provide information on the partitioning of HDO as compared to H216O. The derivation of the δD is challenging and associated with large errors in the uncorrelated retrieval approach chosen here. As a result averaging on the vertical to produce a column-averaged δD is required to produce meaningful results for geophysical interpretation. As a case study, we analyse concentration distributions and spatio-temporal variations of H216O and δD during the October 2007 Krosa super-typhoon over South-East Asia. We show that individual δD have uncertainties of 37‰ for the vertically averaged values. Using the latter, we suggest that the typhoon produces a so-called amount-effect, where the δD is negatively correlated to the water amounts as a result of intense depletion of the deuterated species.

scholarly journals Industrial Plume Properties Retrieved by Optimal Estimation Using Combined Hyperspectral and Sentinel-2 Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1865
Author(s):  
Gabriel Calassou ◽  
Pierre-Yves Foucher ◽  
Jean-François Léon
Keyword(s):  
Matched Filter ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Optimal Estimation ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Surface Reflectance ◽  
Sequential Method ◽  
Modal Radius ◽  
Sentinel 2

Stack emissions from the industrial sector are a subject of concern for air quality. However, the characterization of the stack emission plume properties from in situ observations remains a challenging task. This paper focuses on the characterization of the aerosol properties of a steel plant stack plume through the use of hyperspectral (HS) airborne remote sensing imagery. We propose a new method, based on the combination of HS airborne acquisition and surface reflectance imagery derived from the Sentinel-2 Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI). The proposed method detects the plume footprint and estimates the surface reflectance under the plume, the aerosol optical thickness (AOT), and the modal radius of the plume. Hyperspectral surface reflectances are estimated using the coupled non-negative matrix factorization (CNMF) method combining HS and MSI data. The CNMF reduces the error associated with estimating the surface reflectance below the plume, particularly for heterogeneous classes. The AOT and modal radius are retrieved using an optimal estimation method (OEM), based on the forward model and allowing for uncertainties in the observations and in the model parameters. The a priori state vector is provided by a sequential method using the root mean square error (RMSE) metric, which outperforms the previously used cluster tuned matched filter (CTMF). The OEM degrees of freedom are then analysed, in order to refine the mask plume and to enhance the quality of the retrieval. The retrieved mean radii of aerosol particles in the plume is 0.125 μμm, with an uncertainty of 0.05 μμm. These results are close to the ultra-fine mode (modal radius around 0.1 μμm) observed from in situ measurements within metallurgical plant plumes from previous studies. The retrieved AOT values vary between 0.07 (near the source point) and 0.01, with uncertainties of 0.005 for the darkest surfaces and above 0.010 for the brightest surfaces.

scholarly journals Level 2 processing for the imaging Fourier transform spectrometer GLORIA: derivation and validation of temperature and trace gas volume mixing ratios from calibrated dynamics mode spectra

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 2473-2489 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ungermann ◽  
J. Blank ◽  
M. Dick ◽  
A. Ebersoldt ◽  
F. Friedl-Vallon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fourier Transform ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Trace Gas ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Ionization Mass ◽  
Fourier Transform Spectrometer ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Mixing Ratios

Abstract. The Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere (GLORIA) is an airborne infrared limb imager combining a two-dimensional infrared detector with a Fourier transform spectrometer. It was operated aboard the new German Gulfstream G550 High Altitude LOng Range (HALO) research aircraft during the Transport And Composition in the upper Troposphere/lowermost Stratosphere (TACTS) and Earth System Model Validation (ESMVAL) campaigns in summer 2012. This paper describes the retrieval of temperature and trace gas (H2O, O3, HNO3) volume mixing ratios from GLORIA dynamics mode spectra that are spectrally sampled every 0.625 cm−1. A total of 26 integrated spectral windows are employed in a joint fit to retrieve seven targets using consecutively a fast and an accurate tabulated radiative transfer model. Typical diagnostic quantities are provided including effects of uncertainties in the calibration and horizontal resolution along the line of sight. Simultaneous in situ observations by the Basic Halo Measurement and Sensor System (BAHAMAS), the Fast In-situ Stratospheric Hygrometer (FISH), an ozone detector named Fairo, and the Atmospheric chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (AIMS) allow a validation of retrieved values for three flights in the upper troposphere/lowermost stratosphere region spanning polar and sub-tropical latitudes. A high correlation is achieved between the remote sensing and the in situ trace gas data, and discrepancies can to a large extent be attributed to differences in the probed air masses caused by different sampling characteristics of the instruments. This 1-D processing of GLORIA dynamics mode spectra provides the basis for future tomographic inversions from circular and linear flight paths to better understand selected dynamical processes of the upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere.

scholarly journals Ice Concentration Retrieval from the Analysis of Microwaves: A New Methodology Designed for the Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lise Kilic ◽  
Catherine Prigent ◽  
Filipe Aires ◽  
Georg Heygster ◽  
Victor Pellet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Microwave Radiometer ◽  
Optimal Estimation ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Sea Ice Concentration ◽  
Ice Concentration

Over the last 25 years, the Arctic sea ice has seen its extent decline dramatically. Passive microwave observations, with their ability to penetrate clouds and their independency to sunlight, have been used to provide sea ice concentration (SIC) measurements since the 1970s. The Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) is a high priority candidate mission within the European Copernicus Expansion program, with a special focus on the observation of the polar regions. It will observe at 6.9 and 10.65 GHz with 15 km spatial resolution, and at 18.7 and 36.5 GHz with 5 km spatial resolution. SIC algorithms are based on empirical methods, using the difference in radiometric signatures between the ocean and sea ice. Up to now, the existing algorithms have been limited in the number of channels they use. In this study, we proposed a new SIC algorithm called Ice Concentration REtrieval from the Analysis of Microwaves (IceCREAM). It can accommodate a large range of channels, and it is based on the optimal estimation. Linear relationships between the satellite measurements and the SIC are derived from the Round Robin Data Package of the sea ice Climate Change Initiative. The 6 and 10 GHz channels are very sensitive to the sea ice presence, whereas the 18 and 36 GHz channels have a better spatial resolution. A data fusion method is proposed to combine these two estimations. Therefore, IceCREAM will provide SIC estimates with the good accuracy of the 6+10GHz combination, and the high spatial resolution of the 18+36GHz combination.

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