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- Title
Accuracy of retrieving temperature and humidity profiles by ground-based microwave radiometry in truly complex terrain.
- Authors
Massaro, G.; Stiperski, I.; Pospichal, B.; Rotach, M. W.
- Abstract
Within the Innsbruck Box project, a ground-based microwave radiometer (RPG-HATPRO) was operated in the Inn Valley (Austria), in very complex terrain, between September 2012 and May 2013 to obtain temperature and humidity vertical profiles of the full troposphere with a specific focus on the valley boundary layer. The profiles obtained by the radiometer with different retrieval algorithms based on different climatologies, are compared to local radiosonde data. A retrieval that is improved with respect to the one provided by the manufacturer, based on better resolved data, shows a significantly smaller root mean square error (RMSE), both for the temperature and humidity profiles. The improvement is particularly substantial at the heights close to the mountaintop level and in the upper troposphere. Lower level inversions, common in an alpine valley, are resolved to a satisfactory degree. On the other hand, upper level inversions (above 1200 m) still pose a significant challenge for retrieval. For this purpose, specialized retrieval algorithms were developed by classifying the radiosonde climatologies into specialized categories according to different criteria (seasons, daytime, nighttime) and using additional regressors (e.g., measurements from mountain stations). The training and testing on the radiosonde data for these specialized categories suggests that a classification of profiles that reproduces meaningful physical characteristics can yield improved targeted specialized retrievals. A really new and very promising method of improving the profile retrieval in a mountain region is adding further information in the retrieval, such as the surface temperature at fixed levels along a topographic slope or from nearby mountain tops.
- Subjects
MICROWAVE radiometers; TEMPERATURE; HUMIDITY; TROPOSPHERE; STANDARD deviations
- Publication
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions, 2015, Vol 8, Issue 3, p2263
- ISSN
1867-8610
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5194/amtd-8-2263-2015