Atmospheric Profile Retrievals Using Grating and Interferometer Infrared and Microwave Measurements

Abstract

Infrared radiance spectra measured by grating and interferometer devices will be widely available in the EOS (Earth Observing System) and NPOESS (National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite System) era. The future European polar satellite system, METOP, is scheduled to carry an interferometer to obtain infrared spectra. The Japanese satellite ADEOS (Advanced Earth Observing Satellite) launched on August 16, 1996 is also carrying an interferometer capable of measuring infrared spectra. These future infrared measurements will all possess spectral resolutions of better than 1 cm-1 and have quasi-continuous spectral coverage in the 3 μm ~ 15 μm region. With nearly thousands of spectra measurements at any single field of view, it is important to develop an innovative retrieval algorithm which cannot only handle a large volume of measurements but can also yield high precision sounding profiles.