Huang, Xianglei L. and Yung, Yuk L. and Margolis, Jack S. (2003) Use of high-resolution measurements for the retrieval of temperature and gas-concentration profiles from outgoing infrared spectra in the presence of cirrus clouds. Applied Optics, 42 (12). pp. 2155-2165. ISSN 0003-6935. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:HUAao03
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Abstract
We explore ways in which high-spectral-resolution measurements can aid in the retrieval of atmospheric temperature and gas-concentration profiles from outgoing infrared spectra when optically thin cirrus clouds are present. Simulated outgoing spectra that contain cirrus are fitted with spectra that do not contain cirrus, and the residuals are examined. For those lines with weighting functions that peak near the same altitude as the thin cirrus, unique features are observed in the residuals. These unique features are highly sensitive to the resolution of the instrumental line shape. For thin cirrus these residual features are narrow (≤0.1 cm-1), so high spectral resolution is required for unambiguous observation. The magnitudes of these unique features are larger than the noise of modern instruments. The sensitivities of these features to cloud height and cloud optical depth are also discussed. Our sensitivity studies show that, when the errors in the estimation of temperature profiles are not large, the dominant contribution to the residuals is the misinterpretation of cirrus. An analysis that focuses on information content is also presented. An understanding of the magnitude of the effect and of its dependence on spectral resolution as well as on spectral region is important for retrieving spacecraft data and for the design of future infrared instruments for forecasting weather and monitoring greenhouse gases.
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Additional Information: | © 2003 Optical Society of America. Received 21 August 2002; revised manuscript received 2 January 2003. We thank M. Gerstell and Z.M. Kuang for valuable comments. We also thank two anonymous referees for improving the paper. This research is supported by NOAA grant NA06EC0505 to the California Institute of Technology. | ||||||
Subject Keywords: | Numerical approximation and analysis; Atmospheric scattering; Meteorology | ||||||
Issue or Number: | 12 | ||||||
Record Number: | CaltechAUTHORS:HUAao03 | ||||||
Persistent URL: | https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:HUAao03 | ||||||
Usage Policy: | No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided. | ||||||
ID Code: | 6797 | ||||||
Collection: | CaltechAUTHORS | ||||||
Deposited By: | Lindsay Cleary | ||||||
Deposited On: | 08 Jan 2007 | ||||||
Last Modified: | 09 Mar 2020 13:19 |
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