Total column water vapour from along track scanning radiometer series using thermal infrared dual view ocean cloud free measurements: The Advanced Infra-Red WAter Vapour Estimator (AIRWAVE) algorithm

摘要

This article describes a new algorithm to retrieve the atmospheric water vapour total column (TCWV) using the Thermal InfraRed (TIR) measurements from the two TIR channels of the Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) instrument series, on board the European Space Agency's ERS-1, ERS-2 and ENVISAT satellites spanning 1991 to 2012. The use of the dual view capability of the ATSR-type instruments allows for the accurate and precise, day-rime and night-rime retrievals of cloud free TCWV over oceans. The retrieval scheme uses the instrument physical characteristics, in combination with advanced radiative transfer models and a sea surface spectral emissivity database. The retrievals therefore do not require algorithm tuning or adjustments to independent water vapour datasets.