On the Challenges of Tomography Retrievals of a 2D Water Vapor Field Using Ground-Based Microwave Radiometers: An Observation System Simulation Experiment

Meunier, Véronique; Turner, David D.; Kollias, Pavlos

doi:10.1175/jtech-d-13-00194.1

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…They can provide continuous operations in a variety of weather conditions, and together with the vertical profiles, they also provide accurate estimates of integrated WV and liquid water. Recent simulations [ Steinke et al ., ; Meunier et al ., ] show that 2‐D tomography of WV can also be applied by combining several radiometers scanning in azimuth and elevation. However, the vertical resolution and accuracy will remain low due to the coarse information content in the signals.…”

Section: Remote Sensing Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, only a few studies have attempted to recover the vertical structure of WV fields. Some studies appeared successful [i.e., Champollion et al ., ] whereas others suggest that tomographic retrievals have very limited information content on the vertical distribution of water vapor [ Meunier et al ., ]. Currently, it is not clear what 3‐D resolution and accuracy can be achieved with a specific density and coverage of GNSS receivers.…”

Section: Remote Sensing Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review of the remote sensing of lower tropospheric thermodynamic profiles and its indispensable role for the understanding and the simulation of water and energy cycles

Wulfmeyer

Hardesty

Turner

et al. 2015

Reviews of Geophysics

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199

150

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A review of remote sensing technology for lower tropospheric thermodynamic (TD) profiling is presented with focus on high accuracy and high temporal-vertical resolution. The contributions of these instruments to the understanding of the Earth system are assessed with respect to radiative transfer, land surface-atmosphere feedback, convection initiation, and data assimilation. We demonstrate that for progress in weather and climate research, TD profilers are essential. These observational systems must resolve gradients of humidity and temperature in the stable or unstable atmospheric surface layer close to the ground, in the mixed layer, in the interfacial layer-usually characterized by an inversion-and the lower troposphere. A thorough analysis of the current observing systems is performed revealing significant gaps that must be addressed to fulfill existing needs. We analyze whether current and future passive and active remote sensing systems can close these gaps. A methodological analysis and demonstration of measurement capabilities with respect to bias and precision is executed both for passive and active remote sensing including passive infrared and microwave spectroscopy, the global navigation satellite system, as well as water vapor and temperature Raman lidar and water vapor differential absorption lidar. Whereas passive remote sensing systems are already mature with respect to operational applications, active remote sensing systems require further engineering to become operational in networks. However, active remote sensing systems provide a smaller bias as well as higher temporal and vertical resolutions. For a suitable mesoscale network design, TD profiler system developments should be intensified and dedicated observing system simulation experiments should be performed.

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Section: Remote Sensing Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Remote Sensing Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the remote sensing of lower tropospheric thermodynamic profiles and its indispensable role for the understanding and the simulation of water and energy cycles

Wulfmeyer

Hardesty

Turner

et al. 2015

Reviews of Geophysics

Self Cite

199

150

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There are specific requirements for SEVIRI observations: measurements are restricted just after sunrise and before sunset when the solar zenith angle (SZA) is too large (Roebeling et al, 2008;Kostsov et al, 2018b). Besides, the problem of the misinterpretation of measurements in winter over the snow-covered and ice-covered surfaces with high reflectance should be mentioned (Musial, 2014;Kostsov et al, 2019). Therefore, in the present study an attempt was made to find a kind of supplement to satellite measurements in a coastal area in the form of detection of the land-sea LWP gradients by means of ground-based microwave observations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of the cloud liquid water path horizontal inhomogeneity in a coastline area by means of ground-based microwave observations: feasibility study

2020

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Abstract. Improvement of cloud modelling for global and regional climate and weather studies requires comprehensive information on many cloud parameters. This information is delivered by remote observations of clouds from ground-based and space-borne platforms using different methods and processing algorithms. Cloud liquid water path (LWP) is one of the main obtained quantities. Previously, measurements of LWP by the SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager) and AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) satellite instruments provided evidence for the systematic differences between LWP values over land and water areas in northern Europe. An attempt is made to detect such differences by means of ground-based microwave observations performed near the coastline of the Gulf of Finland in the vicinity of St Petersburg, Russia. The microwave radiometer (RPG-HATPRO, Radiometer Physics GmbH – Humidity And Temperature PROfiler), located 2.5 km from the coastline, is functioning in the angular scanning mode and is probing the air portions over land (at an elevation angle of 90∘) and over water (at seven elevation angles in the range 4.8–30∘). The influence of the land–sea LWP difference on the brightness temperature values in the 31.4 GHz spectral channel has been demonstrated, and the following features have been detected: (1) an interfering systematic signal is present in the 31.4 GHz channel, which can be attributed to the humidity horizontal gradient, (2) clouds over the opposite shore of the Gulf of Finland mask the LWP gradient effect. Preliminary results of the retrieval of LWP over water by the statistical regression method applied to the microwave measurements by HATPRO in the 31.4 and 22.24 GHz channels are presented. The monthly averaged results are compared to the corresponding values derived from the satellite observations by the SEVIRI instrument and from the reanalysis data.

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“…Later, Huang et al (2010) analysed the feasibility of this method for derivation of the spatial structure of cloud liquid water from measurements by modern microwave instruments. The application of a tomographic approach to retrieving two-dimensional water vapour fields was investigated by Meunier et al (2015) by means of simulated experiments. The goal of the mentioned study was to show how the instrument setup (number and spacing of elevation angles of instruments, number of frequencies, etc.)…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrieval of the land-sea contrast of cloud liquid water path by applying a physical inversion algorithm to combined zenith and off-zenith ground-based microwave measurements

Kostsov

Ionov

Kniffka

2022

Preprint

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Abstract. Combined zenith and off-zenith ground-based observations by modern microwave radiometers provide an opportunity to study horizontal inhomogeneities of the humidity field in the troposphere and of the cloud liquid water path (LWP) spatial distribution. However, practical applications are difficult and require thorough analysis of the information content of measurements, assessment of errors of data processing algorithm and the development of the quality control procedures. In this study we analyse the application of our LWP retrieval algorithm based on the inversion of the radiative transfer equation to the problem of detection of the LWP horizontal inhomogeneities by means of ground-based microwave observations in the vicinity of a coastline of a water object of medium size. The study is based on data acquired by the microwave radiometer RPG-HATPRO which is located in the suburbs of St.Petersburg, Russia, at 2.5 km distance from the coastline of the Neva Bay (the Gulf of Finland) and is operating in angular scanning mode in the vertical plane. The retrieval setup is organised in such a way that zenith and off-zenith measurements provide equal sensitivity to atmospheric parameters. The optimal elevation angles for off-zenith observations are selected. The possibility to detect LWP horizontal inhomogeneity, namely the LWP land-sea contrast, for different measurement geometries (elevation angles) and values of cloud base height is analysed. It is shown that ground-based microwave observations in the vicinity of a coastline can be a valuable tool for validation of the space-borne measurements of the LWP land-sea contrast if three principal requirements are met: (a) the multi-parameter physical inversion method is used for retrieving LWP; (b) rigorous bias correction and quality control procedures are applied to the retrieval results; (c) the information on the cloud base height is available. As a result of processing the microwave measurements at the observational site of St.Petersburg State University, the monthly-averaged values of the LWP land-sea difference have been obtained for summer months within the period 2013–2021. For 24 out of 25 months of high quality observations, the LWP land-sea monthly difference is positive (larger values over land and smaller values over water) and can reach 0.06–0.07 kg m−2. The estimations of the LWP land-sea contrast obtained from the ground-based microwave measurements at the observational site of St.Petersburg University are in very good agreement with the values of the LWP land-sea contrast obtained from the multi-year space-borne measurements by the SEVIRI instrument (Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager) in the region of the Neva Bay (the Gulf of Finland) in June and July. For August, the so-called “August anomaly” detected by space-borne observations is not confirmed by the ground-based measurements.

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On the Challenges of Tomography Retrievals of a 2D Water Vapor Field Using Ground-Based Microwave Radiometers: An Observation System Simulation Experiment

Cited by 4 publications

References 48 publications

A review of the remote sensing of lower tropospheric thermodynamic profiles and its indispensable role for the understanding and the simulation of water and energy cycles

A review of the remote sensing of lower tropospheric thermodynamic profiles and its indispensable role for the understanding and the simulation of water and energy cycles

Detection of the cloud liquid water path horizontal inhomogeneity in a coastline area by means of ground-based microwave observations: feasibility study

Retrieval of the land-sea contrast of cloud liquid water path by applying a physical inversion algorithm to combined zenith and off-zenith ground-based microwave measurements

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