1,105 research outputs found
Studies of atmospheric water vapor by means of passive microwave techniques
Atmospheric water vapor determined with passive microwave technique
Additional applications and related topics, chapter 4, part B
Satellite mounted microwave instruments and their use to measure surface pressure are investigated. Data cover instrument accuracy, atmospheric transmission, and meteorological parameter determinations
Uncertainty of atmospheric microwave absorption model: impact on ground-based radiometer simulations and retrievals
This paper presents a general approach to quantify absorption model
uncertainty due to uncertainty in the underlying spectroscopic parameters. The
approach is applied to a widely used microwave absorption model (Rosenkranz,
2017) and radiative transfer calculations in the 20–60 GHz range, which are
commonly exploited for atmospheric sounding by microwave radiometer (MWR).
The approach, however, is not limited to any frequency range, observing
geometry, or particular instrument. In the considered frequency range,
relevant uncertainties come from water vapor and oxygen spectroscopic
parameters. The uncertainty of the following parameters is found to dominate:
(for water vapor) self- and foreign-continuum absorption coefficients, line
broadening by dry air, line intensity, the temperature-dependence exponent for
foreign-continuum absorption, and the line shift-to-broadening ratio; (for
oxygen) line intensity, line broadening by dry air, line mixing,
the temperature-dependence exponent for broadening, zero-frequency line
broadening in air, and the temperature-dependence coefficient for line mixing. The
full uncertainty covariance matrix is then computed for the set of
spectroscopic parameters with significant impact. The impact of the
spectroscopic parameter uncertainty covariance matrix on simulated
downwelling microwave brightness temperatures (TB) in the 20–60 GHz
range is calculated for six atmospheric climatology conditions. The
uncertainty contribution to simulated TB ranges from 0.30 K (subarctic
winter) to 0.92 K (tropical) at 22.2 GHz and from 2.73 K (tropical) to 3.31 K
(subarctic winter) at 52.28 GHz. The uncertainty contribution is nearly
zero at 55–60 GHz frequencies. Finally, the impact of spectroscopic
parameter uncertainty on ground-based MWR retrievals of temperature and
humidity profiles is discussed.</p
The HITRAN 2008 Molecular Spectroscopic Database
This paper describes the status of the 2008 edition of the HITRAN molecular spectroscopic database. The new edition is the first official public release since the 2004 edition, although a number of crucial updates had been made available online since 2004. The HITRAN compilation consists of several components that serve as input for radiative-transfer calculation codes: individual line parameters for the microwave through visible spectra of molecules in the gas phase; absorption cross-sections for molecules having dense spectral features, i.e., spectra in which the individual lines are not resolved; individual line parameters and absorption cross sections for bands in the ultra-violet; refractive indices of aerosols, tables and files of general properties associated with the database; and database management software. The line-by-line portion of the database contains spectroscopic parameters for forty-two molecules including many of their isotopologues
The ExoMol pressure broadening diet: H2 and He line-broadening parameters
In a variety of astronomical objects including gas giant (exo-)planets, brown dwarfs and cool stars, molecular hydrogen and helium are the major line broadeners. However, there is currently no systematic source for these parameters, particularly at the elevated temperatures encountered in many of these objects. The ExoMol project provides comprehensive molecular line lists for exoplanet and other hot atmospheres. The ExoMol database has recently been extended to provide additional data including temperature-dependent, pressure-broadening parameters. Here we assemble H2 and He pressure-broadening datasets for the molecules H2O, NH3, SO2, CH4, PH3, HCN and H2CO using available experimental and theoretical studies
Pressure-dependent water absorption cross sections for exoplanets and other atmospheres
Many atmospheres (cool stars, brown dwarfs, giant planets, extrasolar planets) are predominately composed of molecular hydrogen and helium. H216O is one of the best measured molecules in extrasolar planetary atmospheres to date and a major compound in the atmospheres of brown-dwarfs and oxygen-rich cool stars, yet the scope of experimental and theoretical studies on the pressure broadening of water vapour lines by collision with hydrogen and helium remains limited. Theoretical H2- and He-broadening parameters of water vapour lines (rotational quantum number J up to 50) are obtained for temperatures in the range 300–2000 K. Two approaches for calculation of line widths were used: (i) the averaged energy difference method and (ii) the empirical expression for J′J″-dependence. Voigt profiles based on these widths and the BT2 line list are used to generate high resolution (View the MathML source) pressure broadened cross sections for a fixed range of temperatures and pressures between 300 and 2000 K and 0.001–10 bar. An interpolation procedure which can be used to determine cross sections at intermediate temperature and pressure is described. Pressure broadening parameters and cross sections are presented in new ExoMol format
Development and testing of the Active Temperature, Ozone and Moisture Microwave Spectrometer (ATOMMS) cm and mm wavelength occultation instrument
We present initial results from testing a new remote sensing system called the Active Temperature, Ozone and Moisture Microwave Spectrometer (ATOMMS). ATOMMS is designed as a satellite-to-satellite occultation system for monitoring climate. We are developing the prototype instrument for an aircraft to aircraft occultation demonstration. Here we focus on field testing of the ATOMMS instrument, in particular the remote sensing of water by measuring the attenuation caused by the 22 GHz and 183 GHz water absorption lines.
Our measurements of the 183 GHz line spectrum along an 820 m path revealed that the AM 6.2 spectroscopic model provdes a much better match to the observed spectrum than the MPM93 model. These comparisons also indicate that errors in the ATOMMS amplitude measurements are about 0.3%. Pressure sensitivity bodes well for ATOMMS as a climate instrument. Comparisons with a hygrometer revealed consistency at the 0.05 mb level, which is about 1% of the absolute humidity.
Initial measurements of absorption by the 22 GHz line made along a 5.4 km path between two mountaintops captured a large increase in water vapor similar to that measured by several nearby hygrometers. A storm passage between the two instruments yielded our first measurements of extinction by rain and cloud droplets. Comparisons of ATOMMS 1.5 mm opacity measurements with measured visible opacity and backscatter from a weather radar revealed features simultaneously evident in all three datasets confirming the ATOMMS measurements. The combined ATOMMS, radar and visible information revealed the evolution of rain and cloud amounts along the signal path during the passage of the storm. The derived average cloud water content reached typical continental cloud amounts. These results demonstrated a significant portion of the information content of ATOMMS and its ability to penetrate through clouds and rain which is critical to its all-weather, climate monitoring capability
Properties of water vapor relevant to its measurement in the stratosphere and mesosphere
The literature on the concentrations of water vapor in the stratosphere and mesosphere was studied. It is estimated that the concentrations in these lie in the range from 0.1 ppm to 10 ppm. A survey was made of the scattering and radiative transfer properties of water vapor and the background constituents to determine the physical properties of importance to measurements of concentrations. It was determined that absorption and emission properties provide significant increases in sensitivity compared with the various scattering phenomena considered. Microwave absorption in the region of 22 GHz and 183 GHz and infrared absorption in the vibrational rotational band systems seem to be the most attractive techniques. Various experimental configurations are analyzed and compared
Investigation of Diode Pumped Alkali Laser Atmospheric Transmission Using Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy
A field deployable, tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) device fiber coupled to a pair of 12.5 Ritchey-Chretien telescopes was used to study atmospheric propagation for open path lengths of 100 m to 1,000 m to estimate atmospheric transmission at key High Energy Laser (HEL) wavelengths. The potassium (K) version of the Diode Pumped Alkali Laser (DPAL) operates in between two of the sharp oxygen rotational features in the PP and the PQ branches. Initial experiments were performed in the vicinity of molecular oxygen X3Σ-g to b1Σ+g electronic transition lines near the potassium emission line at 770 nm. More than 50 rotational lines in the molecular oxygen A-band X3Σ-g to b1Σ+g transition near 760 nm were observed. Temperatures were determined from the Boltzmann rotational distribution to within 1.3% (less than 2 K). Oxygen concentration was obtained from the integrated spectral area of the absorption features to within 1.6% (less than 0.04 x 1018 molecules / cm3). Pressure was determined independently from the pressure-broadened Voigt lineshapes to within 10%
Vibrational-Rotational Spectroscopy For Planetary Atmospheres, volume 1
Comprehensive information on the composition and dynamics of the varied planetary atmospheres is summarized. New observations resulted in new demands for supporting laboratory studies. Spectra observed from spacecraft used to interpret planetary atmospheric structure measurements, to aid in greenhouse and cloud physics calculations, and to plan future experiments are discussed. Current findings and new ideas of physicists, chemists, and planetry astronomers relating to the knowledge of the structure of things large and small, of planets and of molecules are summarized
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