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Radiosonde Humidity Corrections and Potential Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Moisture Accuracy

Abstract

Although there are a number of sources of radiosonde data for validation of observations from other atmospheric sensors, routine operational sondes remain the main source for a large volume of data. In this study radiosonde moisture profiles are renormalized using Global Positioning System (GPS) Integrated Precipitable Water (IPW) vapor. The GPS-adjusted radiosonde humidity profiles are then compared to the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) measurements. As a check, AIRS measurements are also compared with unadjusted radiosonde moisture profiles. It is shown that the GPS-adjusted values are in better agreement with the AIRS measurements. On the basis of this result, the GPS-adjusted radiosondes are used to assess the AIRS potential accuracy. This is valid because the errors in the AIRS measurements and the adjustments are independent. The GPS-based renormalization of radiosonde humidity measurements produced a significant improvement in the agreement between AIRS and Vaisala RS 57 H type radiosondes in the lower troposphere, where much of the atmospheric water vapor resides. The adjustment also resulted in improved agreement between AIRS and radiosonde IPW estimates. The results showed a day/night bias in the radiosonde values as compared to the GPS and the AIRS values, demonstrating the potential use of the technique for evaluating and correcting this bias. Established corrections for humidity errors also have been applied to some operational radiosonde observations, specifically the published temperature correction developed for the Vaisala RS80 H type radiosonde. This correction produced a much smaller effect than the GPS adjustment.

Article / Publication Data
Active/Online
YES
ISSN
0148-0227
Volume
112
Available Metadata
DOI ↗
Fiscal Year
Publication Name
Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
Published On
July 01, 2007
Publisher Name
American Geophysical Union
Print Volume
112
Print Number
0

Institutions

Not available

Author

Authors who have authored or contributed to this publication.