Articles | Volume 17, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3933-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3933-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
03 Jul 2024
Research article |
| 03 Jul 2024
| 03 Jul 2024
Sensitivity of thermodynamic profiles retrieved from ground-based microwave and infrared observations to additional input data from active remote sensing instruments and numerical weather prediction models
CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
NOAA, Physical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
Bianca Adler
CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
NOAA, Physical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
Ludovic Bariteau
NOAA, Physical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
Irina V. Djalalova
CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
NOAA, Physical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
Timothy Myers
CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
NOAA, Physical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
Sergio Pezoa
CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
NOAA, Physical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
David D. Turner
NOAA, Global System Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
James M. Wilczak
NOAA, Physical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA
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Irina V. Djalalova, David D. Turner, Laura Bianco, James M. Wilczak, James Duncan, Bianca Adler, and Daniel Gottas
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Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Rob K. Newsom, Larry K. Berg, Heng Xiao, Po-Lun Ma, and David D. Turner
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David D. Turner and Ulrich Löhnert
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Caroline Draxl, Rochelle P. Worsnop, Geng Xia, Yelena Pichugina, Duli Chand, Julie K. Lundquist, Justin Sharp, Garrett Wedam, James M. Wilczak, and Larry K. Berg
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Barbara Altstädter, Konrad Deetz, Bernhard Vogel, Karmen Babić, Cheikh Dione, Federica Pacifico, Corinne Jambert, Friederike Ebus, Konrad Bärfuss, Falk Pätzold, Astrid Lampert, Bianca Adler, Norbert Kalthoff, and Fabienne Lohou
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 7911–7928, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7911-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7911-2020, 2020
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Benjamin Fersch, Alfonso Senatore, Bianca Adler, Joël Arnault, Matthias Mauder, Katrin Schneider, Ingo Völksch, and Harald Kunstmann
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2457–2481, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-2457-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-2457-2020, 2020
Xabier Pedruzo-Bagazgoitia, Stephan R. de Roode, Bianca Adler, Karmen Babić, Cheikh Dione, Norbert Kalthoff, Fabienne Lohou, Marie Lothon, and Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 2735–2754, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2735-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2735-2020, 2020
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Using a high-resolution model we simulate the transition from night to day clouds on southern West Africa using observations from the DACCIWA project. We find that the radiative effects of clouds help mantain a thick cloud layer in the night, while the mixing of cloud air with air above during the day, aided by moisture and heat fluxes at the surface, thins this layer and promotes its transition to other clouds. The effect of changing wind with height accelerates the transition.
Fabienne Lohou, Norbert Kalthoff, Bianca Adler, Karmen Babić, Cheikh Dione, Marie Lothon, Xabier Pedruzo-Bagazgoitia, and Maurin Zouzoua
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 2263–2275, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2263-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2263-2020, 2020
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Norman Wildmann, Nicola Bodini, Julie K. Lundquist, Ludovic Bariteau, and Johannes Wagner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6401–6423, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6401-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6401-2019, 2019
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Turbulence is the variation of wind velocity on short timescales. In this study we introduce a new method to measure turbulence in a two-dimensionial plane with lidar instruments. The method allows for the detection and quantification of subareas of distinct turbulence conditions in the observed plane. We compare the results to point and profile measurements with more established instruments. It is shown that turbulence below low-level jets and in wind turbine wakes can be investigated this way.
Laura Bianco, Irina V. Djalalova, James M. Wilczak, Joseph B. Olson, Jaymes S. Kenyon, Aditya Choukulkar, Larry K. Berg, Harindra J. S. Fernando, Eric P. Grimit, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Julie K. Lundquist, Paytsar Muradyan, Mikhail Pekour, Yelena Pichugina, Mark T. Stoelinga, and David D. Turner
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 4803–4821, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4803-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4803-2019, 2019
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During the second Wind Forecast Improvement Project, improvements to the parameterizations were applied to the High Resolution Rapid Refresh model and its nested version. The impacts of the new parameterizations on the forecast of 80 m wind speeds and power are assessed, using sodars and profiling lidars observations for comparison. Improvements are evaluated as a function of the model’s initialization time, forecast horizon, time of the day, season, site elevation, and meteorological phenomena.
Karmen Babić, Norbert Kalthoff, Bianca Adler, Julian F. Quinting, Fabienne Lohou, Cheikh Dione, and Marie Lothon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 13489–13506, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13489-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13489-2019, 2019
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This study investigates differences in atmospheric conditions between nights with and without low-level stratus clouds (LLCs) over southern West Africa. We use high-quality observations collected during 2016 summer monsoon season and the ERA5 reanalysis data set. Our results show that the formation of LLCs depends on the interplay between the onset time and strength of the nocturnal low-level jet, horizontal cold-air advection, and the overall moisture level in the whole region.
Cheikh Dione, Fabienne Lohou, Marie Lothon, Bianca Adler, Karmen Babić, Norbert Kalthoff, Xabier Pedruzo-Bagazgoitia, Yannick Bezombes, and Omar Gabella
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 8979–8997, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8979-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8979-2019, 2019
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Low atmospheric dynamics and low-level cloud (LLC) macrophysical properties are analyzed using in situ and remote sensing data collected from 20 June to 30 July at Savè, Benin, during the DACCIWA field campaign in 2016. We find that the low-level jet (LLJ), LLCs, monsoon flow, and maritime inflow reveal a day-to-day variability. LLCs form at the same level as the jet core height. The cloud base height is stationary at night and remains below the jet. The cloud top height is found above the jet.
Karmen Babić, Bianca Adler, Norbert Kalthoff, Hendrik Andersen, Cheikh Dione, Fabienne Lohou, Marie Lothon, and Xabier Pedruzo-Bagazgoitia
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 1281–1299, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1281-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1281-2019, 2019
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The first detailed observational analysis of the complete diurnal cycle of low-level clouds (LLC) and associated atmospheric processes over southern West Africa is performed using the data gathered within the DACCIWA (Dynamics-Aerosol-Chemistry-Cloud-Interactions in West Africa) ground-based campaign. We find cooling related to the horizontal advection, which occurs in connection with the inflow of cool maritime air mass and a prominent low-level jet, to have the dominant role in LLC formation.
Bianca Adler, Karmen Babić, Norbert Kalthoff, Fabienne Lohou, Marie Lothon, Cheikh Dione, Xabier Pedruzo-Bagazgoitia, and Hendrik Andersen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 663–681, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-663-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-663-2019, 2019
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This study deals with nocturnal stratiform low-level clouds that frequently form in the atmospheric boundary layer over southern West Africa. We use observational data from 11 nights to characterize the clouds and intranight variability of boundary layer conditions as well as to assess the physical processes relevant for cloud formation. We find that cooling is crucial to reach saturation and a large part of the cooling is related to horizontal advection of cool air from the Gulf of Guinea.
Konrad Deetz, Heike Vogel, Peter Knippertz, Bianca Adler, Jonathan Taylor, Hugh Coe, Keith Bower, Sophie Haslett, Michael Flynn, James Dorsey, Ian Crawford, Christoph Kottmeier, and Bernhard Vogel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9767–9788, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9767-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9767-2018, 2018
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Highly resolved process study simulations for 2–3 July are conducted with COSMO-ART to assess the aerosol direct and indirect effect on meteorological conditions over southern West Africa. The meteorological phenomena of Atlantic inflow and stratus-to-cumulus transition are identified as highly susceptible to the aerosol direct effect, leading to a spatial shift of the Atlantic inflow front and a temporal shift of the stratus-to-cumulus transition with changes in the aerosol amount.
Florian Pantillon, Andreas Wieser, Bianca Adler, Ulrich Corsmeier, and Peter Knippertz
Adv. Sci. Res., 15, 91–97, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-15-91-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-15-91-2018, 2018
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The Wind and Storms Experiment (WASTEX) was conducted during the winter 2016–2017 in the Upper Rhine Valley to better understand the formation of wind gusts during the passage of storms. The key instrument of the field campaign was a scanning Doppler lidar, which provides accurate wind observations along its beam with high spatial and temporal resolutions and within a range of several km. Results from WASTEX should help improving the representation of wind gusts in weather and climate models.
Luca Delle Monache, Stefano Alessandrini, Irina Djalalova, James Wilczak, and Jason C. Knievel
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-1214, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-1214, 2018
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The authors demonstrate how the analog ensemble (AnEn) can efficiently generate deterministic and probabilistic forecasts of air quality. The method avoids the complexity and real-time computational expense of dynamical (i.e., model-based) ensembles. AnEn deterministic predictions have lower errors and are better correlated with observations. Probabilistic forecasts from AnEn are statistically consistent, reliable, and sharp, and they quantify the uncertainty of the underlying prediction.
Claire Pettersen, Ralf Bennartz, Aronne J. Merrelli, Matthew D. Shupe, David D. Turner, and Von P. Walden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 4715–4735, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4715-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4715-2018, 2018
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A novel method for classifying Arctic precipitation using ground based remote sensors is presented. The classification reveals two distinct, primary regimes of precipitation over the central Greenland Ice Sheet: snowfall coupled to deep, fully glaciated ice clouds or to shallow, mixed-phase clouds. The ice clouds are associated with low-pressure storm systems from the southeast, while the mixed-phase clouds slowly propagate from the southwest along a quiescent flow.
Norbert Kalthoff, Fabienne Lohou, Barbara Brooks, Gbenga Jegede, Bianca Adler, Karmen Babić, Cheikh Dione, Adewale Ajao, Leonard K. Amekudzi, Jeffrey N. A. Aryee, Muritala Ayoola, Geoffrey Bessardon, Sylvester K. Danuor, Jan Handwerker, Martin Kohler, Marie Lothon, Xabier Pedruzo-Bagazgoitia, Victoria Smith, Lukman Sunmonu, Andreas Wieser, Andreas H. Fink, and Peter Knippertz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 2913–2928, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2913-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2913-2018, 2018
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Extended low-level stratus clouds (LLC) form frequently in southern West Africa during the night-time and persist long into the next day. They affect the radiation budget, atmospheric boundary-layer (BL) evolution and regional climate. The relevant processes governing their formation and dissolution are not fully understood. Thus, a field campaign was conducted in summer 2016, which provided a comprehensive data set for process studies, specifically of interactions between LLC and BL conditions.
Robert A. Stillwell, Ryan R. Neely III, Jeffrey P. Thayer, Matthew D. Shupe, and David D. Turner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 835–859, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-835-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-835-2018, 2018
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This work focuses on making unambiguous measurements of Arctic cloud phase and assessing those measurements within the context of cloud radiative effects. It is found that effects related to lidar data recording systems can cause retrieval ambiguities that alter the interpretation of cloud phase in as much as 30 % of the available data. This misinterpretation of cloud-phase data can cause a misinterpretation of the effect of cloud phase on the surface radiation budget by as much as 10 to 30 %.
Katherine McCaffrey, Laura Bianco, and James M. Wilczak
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2595–2611, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2595-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2595-2017, 2017
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In this paper, we use two wind profiling radars, operating along side a highly instrumented 300 m meteorological tower, to observe turbulence dissipation rates in the planetary boundary layer from an optimized performance setup. Analysis of post-processing techniques, including spectral averaging and moments' calculation methods, shows the optimal parameters which result in good agreement, especially after bias corrections, with sonic anemometers on the tall tower.
Yann Blanchard, Alain Royer, Norman T. O'Neill, David D. Turner, and Edwin W. Eloranta
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2129–2147, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2129-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2129-2017, 2017
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Multiband thermal measurements of zenith sky radiance were used in a retrieval algorithm, to estimate cloud optical depth and effective particle diameter of thin ice clouds in the Canadian High Arctic. The retrieval technique was validated using a synergy lidar and radar data. Inversions were performed across three polar winters and results showed a significant correlation (R2 = 0.95) for cloud optical depth retrievals and an overall accuracy of 83 % for the classification of thin ice clouds.
Laura Bianco, Katja Friedrich, James M. Wilczak, Duane Hazen, Daniel Wolfe, Ruben Delgado, Steven P. Oncley, and Julie K. Lundquist
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1707–1721, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1707-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1707-2017, 2017
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XPIA is a study held in 2015 at NOAA's Boulder Atmospheric Observatory facility, aimed at assessing remote-sensing capabilities for wind energy applications. We use well-defined reference systems to validate temperature retrieved by two microwave radiometers (MWRs) and virtual temperature measured by wind profiling radars with radio acoustic sounding systems (RASSs). Water vapor density and relative humidity by the MWRs were also compared with similar measurements from the reference systems.
Rob K. Newsom, W. Alan Brewer, James M. Wilczak, Daniel E. Wolfe, Steven P. Oncley, and Julie K. Lundquist
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1229–1240, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1229-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1229-2017, 2017
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Doppler lidars are remote sensing instruments that use infrared light to measure wind velocity in the lowest 2 to 3 km of the atmosphere. Quantifying the uncertainty in these measurements is crucial for applications ranging from wind resource assessment to model data assimilation. In this study, we evaluate three methods for estimating the random uncertainty by comparing the lidar wind measurements with nearly collocated in situ wind measurements at multiple levels on a tall tower.
Mithu Debnath, Giacomo Valerio Iungo, W. Alan Brewer, Aditya Choukulkar, Ruben Delgado, Scott Gunter, Julie K. Lundquist, John L. Schroeder, James M. Wilczak, and Daniel Wolfe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1215–1227, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1215-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1215-2017, 2017
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The XPIA experiment was conducted in 2015 at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory to estimate capabilities of various remote-sensing techniques for the characterization of complex atmospheric flows. Among different tests, XPIA provided the unique opportunity to perform simultaneous virtual towers with Ka-band radars and scanning Doppler wind lidars. Wind speed and wind direction were assessed against lidar profilers and sonic anemometer data, highlighting a good accuracy of the data retrieved.
Katherine McCaffrey, Laura Bianco, Paul Johnston, and James M. Wilczak
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 999–1015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-999-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-999-2017, 2017
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Using an optimized turbulence mode of two wind profiling radars (449 MHz and 915 MHz) during the XPIA field campaign, we present improved measurements of vertical velocity variance at the resolved and unresolved scales, using first and second Doppler spectral moments, and the total variance over all scales. Comparisons with sonic anemometers gave strong results, particularly during the daytime convective period. Profiles up to 2 km are possible with the 449 MHz WPR and 1 km from the 915 MHz WPR.
Mithu Debnath, G. Valerio Iungo, Ryan Ashton, W. Alan Brewer, Aditya Choukulkar, Ruben Delgado, Julie K. Lundquist, William J. Shaw, James M. Wilczak, and Daniel Wolfe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 431–444, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-431-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-431-2017, 2017
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Triple RHI scans were performed with three simultaneous scanning Doppler wind lidars and assessed with lidar profiler and sonic anemometer data. This test is part of the XPIA experiment. The scan strategy consists in two lidars performing co-planar RHI scans, while a third lidar measures the transversal velocity component. The results show that horizontal velocity and wind direction are measured with good accuracy, while the vertical velocity is typically measured with a significant error.
Katherine McCaffrey, Paul T. Quelet, Aditya Choukulkar, James M. Wilczak, Daniel E. Wolfe, Steven P. Oncley, W. Alan Brewer, Mithu Debnath, Ryan Ashton, G. Valerio Iungo, and Julie K. Lundquist
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 393–407, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-393-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-393-2017, 2017
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During the eXperimental Planetary boundary layer Instrumentation Assessment (XPIA) field campaign, the wake and flow distortion from a 300-meter meteorological tower was identified using pairs of sonic anemometers mounted on opposite sides of the tower, as well as profiling and scanning lidars. Wind speed deficits up to 50% and TKE increases of 2 orders of magnitude were observed at wind directions in the wake, along with wind direction differences (flow deflection) outside of the wake.
Aditya Choukulkar, W. Alan Brewer, Scott P. Sandberg, Ann Weickmann, Timothy A. Bonin, R. Michael Hardesty, Julie K. Lundquist, Ruben Delgado, G. Valerio Iungo, Ryan Ashton, Mithu Debnath, Laura Bianco, James M. Wilczak, Steven Oncley, and Daniel Wolfe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 247–264, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-247-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-247-2017, 2017
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This paper discusses trade-offs among various wind measurement strategies using scanning Doppler lidars. It is found that the trade-off exists between being able to make highly precise point measurements versus covering large spatial extents. The highest measurement precision is achieved when multiple lidar systems make wind measurements at one point in space, while highest spatial coverage is achieved through using single lidar scanning measurements and using complex retrieval techniques.
Bianca Adler, Norbert Kalthoff, and Leonhard Gantner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 899–910, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-899-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-899-2017, 2017
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This study deals with the development of nocturnal low-level clouds, which frequently form over southern West Africa during the monsoon season. We performed numerical simulations with the COSMO model and identified processes possibly relevant to cloud formation. The study was made in preparation of a field campaign, which took place in summer 2016 within the DACCIWA project and the results contributed to the optimisation of the measurement strategy during the campaign.
Claire Pettersen, Ralf Bennartz, Mark S. Kulie, Aronne J. Merrelli, Matthew D. Shupe, and David D. Turner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 4743–4756, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4743-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4743-2016, 2016
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We examined four summers of data from a ground-based atmospheric science instrument suite at Summit Station, Greenland, to isolate the signature of the ice precipitation. By using a combination of instruments with different specialities, we identified a passive microwave signature of the ice precipitation. This ice signature compares well to models using synthetic data characteristic of the site.
Andrew M. Dzambo, David D. Turner, and Eli J. Mlawer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 1613–1626, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1613-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1613-2016, 2016
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Radiosondes are used to characterize the humidity in the middle and upper troposphere, but suffer from a solar radiation induced dry bias. This work investigates the accuracy of two published correction algorithms using comparisons with other instruments.
K. Van Tricht, I. V. Gorodetskaya, S. Lhermitte, D. D. Turner, J. H. Schween, and N. P. M. Van Lipzig
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1153–1167, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1153-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1153-2014, 2014
G. Maschwitz, U. Löhnert, S. Crewell, T. Rose, and D. D. Turner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2641–2658, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2641-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2641-2013, 2013
M. P. Cadeddu, J. C. Liljegren, and D. D. Turner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2359–2372, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2359-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2359-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Others (Wind, Precipitation, Temperature, etc.) | Technique: Remote Sensing | Topic: Data Processing and Information Retrieval
Improving solution availability and temporal consistency of an optimal-estimation physical retrieval for ground-based thermodynamic boundary layer profiling
An improved geolocation methodology for spaceborne radar and lidar systems
Combining low- and high-frequency microwave radiometer measurements from the MOSAiC expedition for enhanced water vapour products
HAMSTER: Hyperspectral Albedo Maps dataset with high Spatial and TEmporal Resolution
Global-scale gravity wave analysis methodology for the ESA Earth Explorer 11 candidate CAIRT
Retrieval of pseudo-BRDF-adjusted surface reflectance at 440 nm from the Geostationary Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS)
Drop size distribution retrieval using dual-polarization radar at C-band and S-band
Thermal tides in the middle atmosphere at mid-latitudes measured with a ground-based microwave radiometer
Global sensitivity analysis of simulated remote sensing polarimetric observations over snow
Improving the Gaussianity of radar reflectivity departures between observations and simulations using symmetric rain rates
On the temperature stability requirements of free-running Nd:YAG lasers for atmospheric temperature profiling through the rotational Raman technique
Limitations in wavelet analysis of non-stationary atmospheric gravity wave signatures in temperature profiles
A new non-linearity correction method for the spectrum from the Geostationary Inferometric Infrared Sounder on board Fengyun-4 satellites and its preliminary assessments
Determination of high-precision tropospheric delays using crowdsourced smartphone GNSS data
Unfiltering of the EarthCARE Broadband Radiometer (BBR) observations: the BM-RAD product
Variance estimations in the presence of intermittent interference and their applications to incoherent scatter radar signal processing
A clustering-based method for identifying and tracking squall lines
A multi-instrument fuzzy logic boundary-layer-top detection algorithm
Aeolus Lidar Surface Returns (LSR) at 355 nm as a new Aeolus L2A Phase-F product
Scale separation for gravity wave analysis from 3D temperature observations in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region
Estimating the refractivity bias of FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation in the deep troposphere
High Spectral Resolution Lidar – generation 2 (HSRL-2) retrievals of ocean surface wind speed: methodology and evaluation
Retrieval of top-of-atmosphere fluxes from combined EarthCARE LiDAR, imager and broadband radiometer observations: the BMA-FLX product
Dual adaptive differential threshold method for automated detection of faint and strong echo features in radar observations of winter storms
Noise filtering options for conically scanning Doppler lidar measurements with low pulse accumulation
Comparative experimental validation of microwave hyperspectral atmospheric soundings in clear-sky conditions
Measuring rainfall using microwave links: the influence of temporal sampling
Drone-based photogrammetry combined with deep learning to estimate hail size distributions and melting of hail on the ground
Determination of low-level temperature profiles from microwave radiometer observations during rain
The High lAtitude sNowfall Detection and Estimation aLgorithm for ATMS (HANDEL-ATMS): a new algorithm for snowfall retrieval at high latitudes
Next-generation radiance unfiltering process for the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System instrument
Improved rain event detection in commercial microwave link time series via combination with MSG SEVIRI data
A directional surface reflectance climatology determined from TROPOMI observations
Investigation of gravity waves using measurements from a sodium temperature/wind lidar operated in multi-direction mode
Sampling the diurnal and annual cycles of the Earth’s energy imbalance with constellations of satellite-borne radiometers
An improved BRDF hotspot model and its use in VLIDORT for studying the impact of atmospheric scattering on hotspot directional signatures in the atmosphere
A multi-decadal time series of upper stratospheric temperature profiles from Odin-OSIRIS limb-scattered spectra
Observations of Tall-Building Wakes Using a Scanning Doppler Lidar
CALOTRITON: a convective boundary layer height estimation algorithm from ultra-high-frequency (UHF) wind profiler data
Enhancing consistency of microphysical properties of precipitation across the melting layer in dual-frequency precipitation radar data
Analysis of the measurement uncertainty for a 3D wind-LiDAR
Profiling the molecular destruction rates of temperature and humidity as well as the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation in the convective boundary layer
Forward operator for polarimetric radio occultation measurements
Assessing atmospheric gravity wave spectra in the presence of observational gaps
Joint 1DVar retrievals of tropospheric temperature and water vapor from Global Navigation Satellite System radio occultation (GNSS-RO) and microwave radiometer observations
Mispointing characterization and Doppler velocity correction for the conically scanning WIVERN Doppler radar
Radar and environment-based hail damage estimates using machine learning
A new power-law model for μ–Λ relationships in convective and stratiform rainfall
Suppression of precipitation bias in wind velocities from continuous-wave Doppler lidars
Difference spectrum fitting of the ion–neutral collision frequency from dual-frequency EISCAT measurements
Bianca Adler, David D. Turner, Laura Bianco, Irina V. Djalalova, Timothy Myers, and James M. Wilczak
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6603–6624, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6603-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6603-2024, 2024
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Continuous profile observations of temperature and humidity in the lowest part of the atmosphere are essential for the evaluation of numerical weather prediction models and data assimilation for better weather forecasts. Such profiles can be retrieved from passive ground-based remote sensing instruments like infrared spectrometers and microwave radiometers. In this study, we describe three recent modifications to the retrieval framework TROPoe for improved temperature and humidity profiles.
Bernat Puigdomènech Treserras and Pavlos Kollias
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6301–6314, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6301-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6301-2024, 2024
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The paper presents a comprehensive approach to improve the geolocation accuracy of spaceborne radar and lidar systems, crucial for the successful interpretation of data from the upcoming EarthCARE mission. The paper details the technical background of the presented methods and various examples of geolocation analyses, including a short period of CloudSat observations when the star tracker was not operating properly and lifetime statistics from the CloudSat and CALIPSO missions.
Andreas Walbröl, Hannes J. Griesche, Mario Mech, Susanne Crewell, and Kerstin Ebell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6223–6245, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6223-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6223-2024, 2024
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We developed retrievals of integrated water vapour (IWV), temperature profiles, and humidity profiles from ground-based passive microwave remote sensing measurements gathered during the MOSAiC expedition. We demonstrate and quantify the benefit of combining low- and high-frequency microwave radiometers to improve humidity profiling and IWV estimates by comparing the retrieved quantities to single-instrument retrievals and reference datasets (radiosondes).
Giulia Roccetti, Luca Bugliaro, Felix Gödde, Claudia Emde, Ulrich Hamann, Mihail Manev, Michael Fritz Sterzik, and Cedric Wehrum
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6025–6046, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6025-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6025-2024, 2024
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The amount of sunlight reflected by the Earth’s surface (albedo) is vital for the Earth's radiative system. While satellite instruments offer detailed spatial and temporal albedo maps, they only cover seven wavelength bands. We generate albedo maps that fully span the visible and near-infrared range using a machine learning algorithm. These maps reveal how the reflectivity of different land surfaces varies throughout the year. Our dataset enhances the understanding of the Earth's energy balance.
Sebastian Rhode, Peter Preusse, Jörn Ungermann, Inna Polichtchouk, Kaoru Sato, Shingo Watanabe, Manfred Ern, Karlheinz Nogai, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5785–5819, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5785-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5785-2024, 2024
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We investigate the capabilities of a proposed satellite mission, CAIRT, for observing gravity waves throughout the middle atmosphere and present the necessary methodology for in-depth wave analysis. Our findings suggest that such a satellite mission is highly capable of resolving individual wave parameters and could give new insights into the role of gravity waves in general atmospheric circulation and atmospheric processes.
Suyoung Sim, Sungwon Choi, Daeseong Jung, Jongho Woo, Nayeon Kim, Sungwoo Park, Honghee Kim, Ukkyo Jeong, Hyunkee Hong, and Kyung-Soo Han
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5601–5618, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5601-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5601-2024, 2024
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This study evaluates the use of background surface reflectance (BSR) derived from a semi-empirical bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model based on GEMS satellite images. Analysis shows that BSR provides improved accuracy and stability compared to Lambertian-equivalent reflectivity (LER). These results indicate that BSR can significantly enhance climate analysis and air quality monitoring, making it a promising tool for accurate environmental satellite applications.
Daniel Durbin, Yadong Wang, and Pao-Liang Chang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5397–5411, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5397-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5397-2024, 2024
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A method for determining drop size distributions (DSDs) for rain using radar measurements from two frequencies at two polarizations is presented. Following some preprocessing and quality control, radar measurements are incorporated into a model that uses swarm intelligence to seek the most suitable DSD to produce the input measurements.
Witali Krochin, Axel Murk, and Gunter Stober
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5015–5028, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5015-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5015-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric tides are global-scale oscillations with periods of a fraction of a day. Their observation in the middle atmosphere is challenging and rare, as it requires continuous measurements with a high temporal resolution. In this paper, temperature time series of a ground-based microwave radiometer were analyzed with a spectral filter to derive thermal tide amplitudes and phases in an altitude range of 25–50 km at the geographical locations of Payerne and Bern (Switzerland).
Matteo Ottaviani, Gabriel Harris Myers, and Nan Chen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4737–4756, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4737-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4737-2024, 2024
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We analyze simulated polarization observations over snow to investigate the capabilities of remote sensing to determine surface and atmospheric properties in snow-covered regions. Polarization measurements are demonstrated to aid in the determination of snow grain shape, ice crystal roughness, and the vertical distribution of impurities in the snow–atmosphere system, data that are critical for estimating snow albedo for use in climate models.
Yudong Gao, Lidou Huyan, Zheng Wu, and Bojun Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4675–4686, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4675-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4675-2024, 2024
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A symmetric error model built by symmetric rain rates handles the non-Gaussian error structure of the reflectivity error. The accuracy and linearization of rain rates can further improve the Gaussianity.
José Alex Zenteno-Hernández, Adolfo Comerón, Federico Dios, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar, Michaël Sicard, Noemi Franco, Andreas Behrendt, and Paolo Di Girolamo
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4687–4694, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4687-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4687-2024, 2024
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We study how the spectral characteristics of a solid-state laser in an atmospheric temperature profiling lidar using the Raman technique impact the temperature retrieval accuracy. We find that the spectral widening, with respect to a seeded laser, has virtually no impact, while crystal-rod temperature variations in the laser must be kept within a range of 1 K for the uncertainty in the atmospheric temperature below 1 K. The study is carried out through spectroscopy simulations.
Robert Reichert, Natalie Kaifler, and Bernd Kaifler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4659–4673, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4659-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4659-2024, 2024
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Imagine you want to determine how quickly the pitch of a passing ambulance’s siren changes. If the vehicle is traveling slowly, the pitch changes only slightly, but if it is traveling fast, the pitch also changes rapidly. In a similar way, the wind in the middle atmosphere modulates the wavelength of atmospheric gravity waves. We have investigated the question of how strong the maximum wind may be so that the change in wavelength can still be determined with the help of wavelet transformation.
Qiang Guo, Yuning Liu, Xin Wang, and Wen Hui
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4613–4627, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4613-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4613-2024, 2024
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Non-linearity (NL) correction is a critical procedure to guarantee that the calibration accuracy of a spaceborne sensor approaches a reasonable level. Different from the classical method, a new NL correction method for a spaceborne Fourier transform spectrometer is proposed. To overcome the inaccurate linear coefficient from two-point calibration influencing NL correction, an iteration algorithm is established that is suitable for NL correction of both infrared and microwave sensors.
Yuanxin Pan, Grzegorz Kłopotek, Laura Crocetti, Rudi Weinacker, Tobias Sturn, Linda See, Galina Dick, Gregor Möller, Markus Rothacher, Ian McCallum, Vicente Navarro, and Benedikt Soja
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4303–4316, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4303-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4303-2024, 2024
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Crowdsourced smartphone GNSS data were processed with a dedicated data processing pipeline and could produce millimeter-level accurate estimates of zenith total delay (ZTD) – a critical atmospheric variable. This breakthrough not only demonstrates the feasibility of using ubiquitous devices for high-precision atmospheric monitoring but also underscores the potential for a global, cost-effective tropospheric monitoring network.
Almudena Velázquez Blázquez, Edward Baudrez, Nicolas Clerbaux, and Carlos Domenech
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4245–4256, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4245-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4245-2024, 2024
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The Broadband Radiometer measures shortwave and total-wave radiances filtered by the spectral response of the instrument. To obtain unfiltered solar and thermal radiances, the effect of the spectral response needs to be corrected for, done within the BM-RAD processor. Errors in the unfiltering are propagated into fluxes; thus, accurate unfiltering is required for their proper estimation (within BMA-FLX). Unfiltering errors are estimated to be <0.5 % for the shortwave and <0.1 % for the longwave.
Qihou Zhou, Yanlin Li, and Yun Gong
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4197–4209, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4197-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4197-2024, 2024
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We discuss several robust estimators to compute the variance of a normally distributed random variable to deal with interference. Compared to rank-based estimators, the methods based on the geometric mean are more accurate and are computationally more efficient. We apply three robust estimators to incoherent scatter power and velocity processing, along with the traditional sample mean estimator. The best estimator is a hybrid estimator that combines the sample mean and a robust estimator.
Zhao Shi, Yuxiang Wen, and Jianxin He
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4121–4135, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4121-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4121-2024, 2024
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The squall line is a type of convective system. Squall lines are often associated with damaging weather, so identifying and tracking squall lines plays an important role in early meteorological disaster warnings. A clustering-based method is proposed in this article. It can identify the squall lines within the radar scanning range with an accuracy rate of 95.93 %. It can also provide the three-dimensional structure and movement tracking results for each squall line.
Elizabeth N. Smith and Jacob T. Carlin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4087–4107, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4087-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4087-2024, 2024
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Boundary-layer height observations remain sparse in time and space. In this study we create a new fuzzy logic method for synergistically combining boundary-layer height estimates from a suite of instruments. These estimates generally compare well to those from radiosondes; plus, the approach offers near-continuous estimates through the entire diurnal cycle. Suspected reasons for discrepancies are discussed. The code for the newly presented fuzzy logic method is provided for the community to use.
Lev D. Labzovskii, Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff, David P. Donovan, Jos de Kloe, L. Gijsbert Tilstra, Ad Stoffelen, Damien Josset, and Piet Stammes
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1926, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1926, 2024
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The Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument (ALADIN) on the Aeolus satellite was the first of its kind to measure high-resolution vertical profiles of aerosols and cloud properties from space. We present an algorithm, producing Aeolus lidar surface returns (LSR) containing useful information for measuring UV reflectivity. Aeolus LSR matched well with existing UV reflectivity data from other satellites like GOME-2 and TROPOMI and demonstrated excellent sensitivity to modelled snow cover.
Björn Linder, Peter Preusse, Qiuyu Chen, Ole Martin Christensen, Lukas Krasauskas, Linda Megner, Manfred Ern, and Jörg Gumbel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3829–3841, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3829-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3829-2024, 2024
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The Swedish research satellite MATS (Mesospheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy) is designed to study atmospheric waves in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. These waves perturb the temperature field, and thus, by observing three-dimensional temperature fluctuations, their properties can be quantified. This pre-study uses synthetic MATS data generated from a general circulation model to investigate how well wave properties can be retrieved.
Gia Huan Pham, Shu-Chih Yang, Chih-Chien Chang, Shu-Ya Chen, and Cheng Yung Huang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3605–3623, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3605-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3605-2024, 2024
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This research examines the characteristics of low-level GNSS radio occultation (RO) refractivity bias over ocean and land and its dependency on the RO retrieval uncertainty, atmospheric temperature, and moisture. We propose methods for estimating the region-dependent refractivity bias. Our methods can be applied to calibrate the refractivity bias under different atmospheric conditions and thus improve the applications of the GNSS RO data in the deep troposphere.
Sanja Dmitrovic, Johnathan W. Hair, Brian L. Collister, Ewan Crosbie, Marta A. Fenn, Richard A. Ferrare, David B. Harper, Chris A. Hostetler, Yongxiang Hu, John A. Reagan, Claire E. Robinson, Shane T. Seaman, Taylor J. Shingler, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Holger Vömel, Xubin Zeng, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3515–3532, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3515-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3515-2024, 2024
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This study introduces and evaluates a new ocean surface wind speed product from the NASA Langley Research Center (LARC) airborne High-Spectral-Resolution Lidar – Generation 2 (HSRL-2) during the NASA ACTIVATE mission. We show that HSRL-2 surface wind speed data are accurate when compared to ground-truth dropsonde measurements. Therefore, the HSRL-2 instrument is able obtain accurate, high-resolution surface wind speed data in airborne field campaigns.
Almudena Velázquez Blázquez, Carlos Domenech, Edward Baudrez, Nicolas Clerbaux, Carla Salas Molar, and Nils Madenach
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1539, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1539, 2024
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This paper focuses on the BMA-FLX processor, in which thermal and solar top-of-atmosphere radiative fluxes are obtained from longwave and shortwave radiances measured along-track by the EarthCARE Broadband Radiometer (BBR). The BBR measurements, at three fixed viewing angles (fore, nadir, aft) are co-registered either at the surface or at a reference level. A combined flux from the three BRR views is obtained. The algorithm has been successfully validated against test scenes.
Laura M. Tomkins, Sandra E. Yuter, and Matthew A. Miller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3377–3399, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3377-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3377-2024, 2024
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We have created a new method to better identify enhanced features in radar data from winter storms. Unlike the clear-cut features seen in warm-season storms, features in winter storms are often fuzzier with softer edges. Our technique is unique because it uses two adaptive thresholds that change based on the background radar values. It can identify both strong and subtle features in the radar data and takes into account uncertainties in the detection process.
Eileen Päschke and Carola Detring
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3187–3217, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3187-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3187-2024, 2024
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Little noise in radial velocity Doppler lidar measurements can contribute to large errors in retrieved turbulence variables. In order to distinguish between plausible and erroneous measurements we developed new filter techniques that work independently of the choice of a specific threshold for the signal-to-noise ratio. The performance of these techniques is discussed both by means of assessing the filter results and by comparing retrieved turbulence variables versus independent measurements.
Lei Liu, Natalia Bliankinshtein, Yi Huang, John R. Gyakum, Philip M. Gabriel, Shiqi Xu, and Mengistu Wolde
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1045, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1045, 2024
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This study evaluates and compares a new microwave hyperspectrometer with an infrared hyperspectrometer for clear-sky temperature and water vapor retrievals. The analysis reveals that the information content of the infrared hyperspectrometer exceeds that of the microwave hyperspectrometer and provides higher vertical resolution in ground-based zenith measurements. Leveraging the ground-airborne synergy between the two instruments yielded optimal-sounding results.
Luuk D. van der Valk, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Rolf W. Hut, Aart Overeem, Bas Walraven, and Remko Uijlenhoet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2811–2832, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2811-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2811-2024, 2024
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Microwave links, often part of mobile phone networks, can be used to measure rainfall along the link path by determining the signal loss caused by rainfall. We use high-frequency data of multiple microwave links to recreate commonly used sampling strategies. For time intervals up to 1 min, the influence of sampling strategies on estimated rainfall intensities is relatively little, while for intervals longer than 5–15 min, the sampling strategy can have significant influences on the estimates.
Martin Lainer, Killian P. Brennan, Alessandro Hering, Jérôme Kopp, Samuel Monhart, Daniel Wolfensberger, and Urs Germann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2539–2557, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2539-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2539-2024, 2024
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This study uses deep learning (the Mask R-CNN model) on drone-based photogrammetric data of hail on the ground to estimate hail size distributions (HSDs). Traditional hail sensors' limited areas complicate the full HSD retrieval. The HSD of a supercell event on 20 June 2021 is retrieved and contains > 18 000 hailstones. The HSD is compared to automatic hail sensor measurements and those of weather-radar-based MESHS. Investigations into ground hail melting are performed by five drone flights.
Andreas Foth, Moritz Lochmann, Pablo Saavedra Garfias, and Heike Kalesse-Los
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-919, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-919, 2024
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Microwave radiometers are usually not able to provide atmospheric quantities such as temperature profiles during rain. Here, we present a method based on a selection of specific frequencies and elevation angles from the microwave radiometer observation. A comparison with a numerical weather prediction model shows that the presented method allows to resolve temperature profiles during rain with rain rates up to 2 mm h−1 which was not possible before with state-of-the-art retrievals.
Andrea Camplani, Daniele Casella, Paolo Sanò, and Giulia Panegrossi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2195–2217, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2195-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2195-2024, 2024
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The paper describes a new machine-learning-based snowfall retrieval algorithm for Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder observations developed to retrieve high-latitude snowfall events. The main novelty of the approach is the radiometric characterization of the background surface at the time of the overpass, which is ancillary to the retrieval process. The algorithm shows a unique capability to retrieve snowfall in the environmental conditions typical of high latitudes.
Lusheng Liang, Wenying Su, Sergio Sejas, Zachary Eitzen, and Norman G. Loeb
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2147–2163, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2147-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2147-2024, 2024
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This paper describes an updated process to obtain unfiltered radiation from CERES satellite instruments by incorporating the most recent developments in radiative transfer modeling and ancillary input datasets (e.g., realistic representation of land surface radiation and climatology of surface temperatures and aerosols) during the past 20 years. The resulting global mean of instantaneous SW and LW fluxes is changed by less than 0.5 W m−2 with regional differences as large as 2.0 W m−2.
Maximilian Graf, Andreas Wagner, Julius Polz, Llorenç Lliso, José Alberto Lahuerta, Harald Kunstmann, and Christian Chwala
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2165–2182, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2165-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2165-2024, 2024
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Commercial microwave links (CMLs) can be used for rainfall retrieval. The detection of rainy periods in their attenuation time series is a crucial processing step. We investigate the usage of rainfall data from MSG SEVIRI for this task, compare this approach with existing methods, and introduce a novel combined approach. The results show certain advantages for SEVIRI-based methods, particularly for CMLs where existing methods perform poorly. Our novel combination yields the best performance.
Lieuwe G. Tilstra, Martin de Graaf, Victor J. H. Trees, Pavel Litvinov, Oleg Dubovik, and Piet Stammes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2235–2256, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2235-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2235-2024, 2024
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This paper introduces a new surface albedo climatology of directionally dependent Lambertian-equivalent reflectivity (DLER) observed by TROPOMI on the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite. The database contains monthly fields of DLER for 21 wavelength bands at a relatively high spatial resolution of 0.125 by 0.125 degrees. The anisotropy of the surface reflection is handled by parameterisation of the viewing angle dependence.
Bing Cao and Alan Z. Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2123–2146, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2123-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2123-2024, 2024
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A narrow-band sodium lidar measures atmospheric waves but is limited to vertical variations. We propose to utilize phase shifts among observations from different laser beams to derive horizontal wave information. Two gravity wave packets were identified by this method. Both waves were found to interact with thin evanescent layers, partially reflected, but transmitted energy to higher altitudes. The method can detect more medium-frequency gravity waves for similar lidar systems worldwide.
Thomas Hocking, Thorsten Mauritsen, and Linda Megner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-356, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-356, 2024
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The imbalance between the energy the Earth absorbs from the Sun and the energy the Earth emits back to space gives rise to climate change, but measuring the small imbalance is challenging. We simulate satellites in various orbits to investigate how well they sample the imbalance, and find that the best option is to combine at least two satellites that see complementary parts of the Earth and cover the daily and annual cycles. This information is useful when planning future satellite missions.
Xiaozhen Xiong, Xu Liu, Robert Spurr, Ming Zhao, Qiguang Yang, Wan Wu, and Liqiao Lei
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1965–1978, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1965-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1965-2024, 2024
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The term “hotspot” refers to the sharp increase in reflectance occurring when incident (solar) and reflected (viewing) directions coincide in the backscatter direction. The accurate simulation of hotspot directional signatures is important for many remote sensing applications, but current models typically require large values of computations to represent the hotspot accurately. This paper provides a numerically improved hotspot BRDF model that converges much faster and is used in VLIDORT.
Daniel Zawada, Kimberlee Dubé, Taran Warnock, Adam Bourassa, Susann Tegtmeier, and Douglas Degenstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1995–2010, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1995-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1995-2024, 2024
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There remain large uncertainties in long-term changes of stratospheric–atmospheric temperatures. We have produced a time series of more than 20 years of satellite-based temperature measurements from the OSIRIS instrument in the upper–middle stratosphere. The dataset is publicly available and intended to be used for a better understanding of changes in stratospheric temperatures.
Natalie E. Theeuwes, Janet F. Barlow, Antti Mannisenaho, Denise Hertwig, Ewan O'Connor, and Alan Robins
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-937, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-937, 2024
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A doppler lidar was placed in highly built-up area in London to measure wakes from tall buildings during a period of one year. We were able to detect wakes and assess their dependence on wind speed, wind direction, and atmospheric stability.
Alban Philibert, Marie Lothon, Julien Amestoy, Pierre-Yves Meslin, Solène Derrien, Yannick Bezombes, Bernard Campistron, Fabienne Lohou, Antoine Vial, Guylaine Canut-Rocafort, Joachim Reuder, and Jennifer K. Brooke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1679–1701, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1679-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1679-2024, 2024
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We present a new algorithm, CALOTRITON, for the retrieval of the convective boundary layer depth with ultra-high-frequency radar measurements. CALOTRITON is partly based on the principle that the top of the convective boundary layer is associated with an inversion and a decrease in turbulence. It is evaluated using ceilometer and radiosonde data. It is able to qualify the complexity of the vertical structure of the low troposphere and detect internal or residual layers.
Kamil Mroz, Alessandro Battaglia, and Ann M. Fridlind
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1577–1597, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1577-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1577-2024, 2024
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In this study, we examine the extent to which radar measurements from space can inform us about the properties of clouds and precipitation. Surprisingly, our analysis showed that the amount of ice turning into rain was lower than expected in the current product. To improve on this, we came up with a new way to extract information about the size and concentration of particles from radar data. As long as we use this method in the right conditions, we can even estimate how dense the ice is.
Wolf Knöller, Gholamhossein Bagheri, Philipp von Olshausen, and Michael Wilczek
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-184, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-184, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
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Three-dimensional (3D) wind velocity measurements are of major importance for the characterization of atmospheric turbulence. This paper presents a detailed study of the measurement uncertainty of a three-beam wind-LiDAR designed for mounting on airborne platforms. Considering the geometrical constraints, the analysis provides quantitative estimates for the measurement uncertainty of all components of the 3D wind vector. As a result, we propose an optimized post-processing for error reduction.
Volker Wulfmeyer, Christoph Senff, Florian Späth, Andreas Behrendt, Diego Lange, Robert M. Banta, W. Alan Brewer, Andreas Wieser, and David D. Turner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1175–1196, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1175-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1175-2024, 2024
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A simultaneous deployment of Doppler, temperature, and water-vapor lidar systems is used to provide profiles of molecular destruction rates and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation in the convective boundary layer (CBL). The results can be used for the parameterization of turbulent variables, TKE budget analyses, and the verification of weather forecast and climate models.
Daisuke Hotta, Katrin Lonitz, and Sean Healy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1075–1089, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1075-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1075-2024, 2024
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Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) polarimetric radio occultation (PRO) is a new type of GNSS observations that can detect heavy precipitation along the ray path between the emitter and receiver satellites. As a first step towards using these observations in numerical weather prediction (NWP), we developed a computer code that simulates GNSS-PRO observations from forecast fields produced by an NWP model. The quality of the developed simulator is evaluated with a number of case studies.
Mohamed Mossad, Irina Strelnikova, Robin Wing, and Gerd Baumgarten
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 783–799, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-783-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-783-2024, 2024
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This numerical study addresses observational gaps' impact on atmospheric gravity wave spectra. Three methods, fast Fourier transform (FFT), generalized Lomb–Scargle periodogram (GLS), and Haar structure function (HSF), were tested on synthetic data. HSF is best for spectra with negative slopes. GLS excels for flat and positive slopes and identifying dominant frequencies. Accurately estimating these aspects is crucial for understanding gravity wave dynamics and energy transfer in the atmosphere.
Kuo-Nung Wang, Chi O. Ao, Mary G. Morris, George A. Hajj, Marcin J. Kurowski, Francis J. Turk, and Angelyn W. Moore
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 583–599, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-583-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-583-2024, 2024
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In this article, we described a joint retrieval approach combining two techniques, RO and MWR, to obtain high vertical resolution and solve for temperature and moisture independently. The results show that the complicated structure in the lower troposphere can be better resolved with much smaller biases, and the RO+MWR combination is the most stable scenario in our sensitivity analysis. This approach is also applied to real data (COSMIC-2/Suomi-NPP) to show the promise of joint RO+MWR retrieval.
Filippo Emilio Scarsi, Alessandro Battaglia, Frederic Tridon, Paolo Martire, Ranvir Dhillon, and Anthony Illingworth
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 499–514, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-499-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-499-2024, 2024
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The WIVERN mission, one of the two candidates to be the ESA's Earth Explorer 11 mission, aims at providing measurements of horizontal winds in cloud and precipitation systems through a conically scanning W-band Doppler radar. This work discusses four methods that can be used to characterize and correct the Doppler velocity error induced by the antenna mispointing. The proposed methodologies can be extended to other Doppler concepts featuring conically scanning or slant viewing Doppler systems.
Luis Ackermann, Joshua Soderholm, Alain Protat, Rhys Whitley, Lisa Ye, and Nina Ridder
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 407–422, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-407-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-407-2024, 2024
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The paper addresses the crucial topic of hail damage quantification using radar observations. We propose a new radar-derived hail product that utilizes a large dataset of insurance hail damage claims and radar observations. A deep neural network was employed, trained with local meteorological variables and the radar observations, to better quantify hail damage. Key meteorological variables were identified to have the most predictive capability in this regard.
Christos Gatidis, Marc Schleiss, and Christine Unal
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 235–245, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-235-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-235-2024, 2024
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A common method to retrieve important information about the microphysical structure of rain (DSD retrievals) requires a constrained relationship between the drop size distribution parameters. The most widely accepted empirical relationship is between μ and Λ. The relationship shows variability across the different types of rainfall (convective or stratiform). The new proposed power-law model to represent the μ–Λ relation provides a better physical interpretation of the relationship coefficients.
Liqin Jin, Jakob Mann, Nikolas Angelou, and Mikael Sjöholm
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 6007–6023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6007-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6007-2023, 2023
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By sampling the spectra from continuous-wave Doppler lidars very fast, the rain-induced Doppler signal can be suppressed and the bias in the wind velocity estimation can be reduced. The method normalizes 3 kHz spectra by their peak values before averaging them down to 50 Hz. Over 3 h, we observe a significant reduction in the bias of the lidar data relative to the reference sonic data when the largest lidar focus distance is used. The more it rains, the more the bias is reduced.
Florian Günzkofer, Gunter Stober, Dimitry Pokhotelov, Yasunobu Miyoshi, and Claudia Borries
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5897–5907, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5897-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5897-2023, 2023
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Electric currents in the ionosphere can impact both satellite and ground-based infrastructure. These currents depend strongly on the collisions of ions and neutral particles. Measuring ion–neutral collisions is often only possible via certain assumptions. The direct measurement of ion–neutral collision frequencies is possible with multifrequency incoherent scatter radar measurements. This paper presents one analysis method of such measurements and discusses its advantages and disadvantages.
Cited articles
Adler, B., Turner, D. D., Bianco, L., Djalalova, I. V., Myers, T., and Wilczak, J. M.: Improving solution availability and temporal consistency of an optimal estimation physical retrieval for ground-based thermodynamic boundary layer profiling, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-714, 2024.
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Bianco, L.: NOAA PSL thermodynamic profiles retrieved from a combination of active and passive remote sensors and numerical weather prediction models with the optimal estimation physical retrieval TROPoe at Platteville, CO, USA, Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10815373, 2024.
Bianco, L., Friedrich, K., Wilczak, J. M., Hazen, D., Wolfe, D., Delgado, R., Oncley, S. P., and Lundquist, J. K.: Assessing the accuracy of microwave radiometers and radio acoustic sounding systems for wind energy applications, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1707–1721, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1707-2017, 2017.
Blumberg, W., Turner, D., Löhnert, U., and Castleberry, S.: Ground-based temperature and humidity profiling using spectral infrared and microwave observations. Part 2: Actual retrieval performance in clear sky and cloudy conditions, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 54, 2305–2319, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-15-0005.1, 2015.
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Crewell, S. and Löhnert, U..: Accuracy of boundary layer temperature profiles retrieved with multifrequency multiangle microwave radiometry, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote Se., 45, 2195–2201, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2006.888434, 2007.
Djalalova, I. V., Turner, D. D., Bianco, L., Wilczak, J. M., Duncan, J., Adler, B., and Gottas, D.: Improving thermodynamic profile retrievals from microwave radiometers by including radio acoustic sounding system (RASS) observations, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 521–537, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-521-2022, 2022.
Han, Y. and Westwater, E. R.: Analysis and improvement of tipping calibration for ground-based microwave radiometers, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 38, 1260–1276, 2000.
Hewison, T.: 1D-VAR retrievals of temperature and humidity profiles from a ground-based microwave radiometer, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 45, 2163–2168, 2007.
Klein, P., Bonin, T. A., Newman, J. F., Turner, D. D., Chilson, P. B., Wainwright, C. E., Blumberg, W. G., Mishra, S., Carney, M., Jacobsen, E. P., Wharton, S., and Newsom, R. K.: LABLE: A multi-institutional, student-led, atmospheric boundary layer experiment, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 96, 1743–1764, 2015.
Knuteson, R., Revercomb, H., Best, F., Ciganovich, N., Dedecker, R., Dirkx, T. P., Ellington, S. C., Feltz, W. F., Garcia, R. K., Howell, H. B., Smith, W. L., Short, J. F., and Tobin, D. C.: Atmospheric emitted radiance interferometer. Part I: Instrument design, J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol., 21, 1763–1776, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-1662.1, 2004a.
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Küchler, N., Turner, D. D., Löhnert, U., and Crewell, S.: Calibrating ground-based microwave radiometers: Uncertainty and drifts, Radio Sci., 51, 311–327, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015RS005826, 2016.
Liu, Y. and Chen, Y.: Precision of precipitable water vapour from radiosonde data for GPS solutions, Geomatica, 54, 171–175, 2000.
Maahn, M., Turner, D. D., Löhnert, U., Posselt, D. J., Ebell, K., Mace, G. G., and Comstock, J. M.: Optimal estimation retrievals and their uncertainties, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 101, E1512–E1523, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0027.1, 2020.
Maddy, E. S. and Barnet, C. D.: Vertical Resolution Estimates in Version 5 of AIRS Operational Retrievals, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 46, 2375–2384, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2008.917498, 2008.
Martinet, P., Cimini, D., Burnet, F., Ménétrier, B., Michel, Y., and Unger, V.: Improvement of numerical weather prediction model analysis during fog conditions through the assimilation of ground-based microwave radiometer observations: a 1D-Var study, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6593–6611, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6593-2020, 2020.
Masiello, G., Serio, C., and Antonelli, P.: Inversion for atmospheric thermodynamical parameters of IASI data in the principal components space. Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 138: 103–117. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.909, 2011.
May, P. T. and Wilczak, J. M.: Diurnal and Seasonal Variations of Boundary-Layer Structure Observed with a Radar Wind Profiler and RASS, Mon. Weather Rev., 121, 673–682, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1993)121<0673:DASVOB>2.0.CO;2, 1993.
Merrelli, A. and Turner, D. D.: Comparing information content of upwelling far-infrared and midinfrared radiance spectra for clear atmosphere profiling, J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 29, 510–526, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-11-00113.1, 2012.
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Reehorst, A. L.: Comparison of profiling microwave radiometer, aircraft, and radiosonde measurements from the Alliance Icing Research Study (AIRS), NASA/TM-2001-211101, 12 pp., http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20010098322.pdf (last access: 1 July 2024), 2001.
Rodgers, C. D.: Inverse Methods for Atmospheric Sounding: Theory and Practice, Series on Atmospheric, Ocean. Planet. Phys., 2, 238 pp., 2000.
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Turner, D. D.: Tropospheric Remotely Observed Profiling via Optimal Estimation, https://hub.docker.com/r/davidturner53/tropoe/tags (last access: 1 July 2024), 2024.
Turner, D. D. and Blumberg, W. G.: Improvements to the AERIoe thermodynamic profile retrieval algorithm, IEEE J.-Stars., 12, 1339–1354, https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2018.2874968, 2019.
Turner, D. D. and Löhnert, U.: Information content and uncertainties in thermodynamic profiles and liquid cloud properties retrieved from the ground-based Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI), J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 53, 752–771, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-13-0126.1, 2014.
Turner, D. D. and Löhnert, U.: Ground-based temperature and humidity profiling: combining active and passive remote sensors, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3033–3048, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3033-2021, 2021.
Short summary
The Tropospheric Remotely Observed Profiling via Optimal Estimation physical retrieval is used to retrieve temperature and humidity profiles from various combinations of passive and active remote sensing instruments, surface platforms, and numerical weather prediction models. The retrieved profiles are assessed against collocated radiosonde in non-cloudy conditions to assess the sensitivity of the retrievals to different input combinations. Case studies with cloudy conditions are also inspected.
The Tropospheric Remotely Observed Profiling via Optimal Estimation physical retrieval is used...
