Retrieving Mean Temperature of Atmospheric Liquid Water Layers Using Microwave Radiometer Measurements
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, and NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory/Physical Sciences Division, Boulder, Colorado
- NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory/Global Systems Division, Boulder, Colorado
A remote sensing method to retrieve the mean temperature of cloud liquid using ground-based microwave radiometer measurements is evaluated and tested by comparisons with direct cloud temperature information inferred from ceilometer cloud-base measurements and temperature profiles from radiosonde soundings. The method is based on the dependence of the ratio of cloud optical thicknesses at W-band (~90 GHz) and Ka-band (~30 GHz) frequencies on cloud liquid temperature. This ratio is obtained from total optical thicknesses inferred from radiometer measurements of brightness temperatures after accounting for the contributions from oxygen and water vapor. This accounting is done based on the radiometer-based retrievals of integrated water vapor amount and temperature and pressure measurements at the surface. The W–Ka-band ratio method is applied to the measurements from a three-channel (90, 31.4, and 23.8 GHz) microwave radiometer at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Mobile Facility at Oliktok Point, Alaska. The analyzed events span conditions from warm stratus clouds with temperatures above freezing to mixed-phase clouds with supercooled liquid water layers. Intercomparisons of radiometer-based cloud liquid temperature retrievals with estimates from collocated ceilometer and radiosonde measurements indicated on average a standard deviation of about 3.5°C between the two retrieval types in a wide range of cloud temperatures, from warm liquid clouds to mixed-phase clouds with supercooled liquid and liquid water paths greater than 50 g m-2. Finally, the three-channel microwave radiometer–based method has a broad applicability, since it requires neither the use of active sensors to locate the boundaries of liquid cloud layers nor information on the vertical profile of temperature.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth and Environmental Systems Science Division
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0013306
- OSTI ID:
- 1436561
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1541863; OSTI ID: 1673395
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Journal Name: Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology Vol. 35 Journal Issue: 5; ISSN 0739-0572
- Publisher:
- American Meteorological SocietyCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Internet of Things for Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change
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book | December 2019 |
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