Water vapor from sunradiometry in comparison wit microwave and balloon-sonde measurements at the Southern Great Plains ARM site

Abstract

Water vapor plays an important role in weather in climate; it is the most important greenhouse gas and the most variable in space and time. The DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program is studying the column abundance and distribution of water vapor with altitude. Although the Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (MFRSR) is mainly for measurements of spectral short-wave radiation and spectral extinction by aerosol, it can also measure total column water vapor. This paper reports a preliminary investigation of MFRSR`s capabilities for total column water vapor under cloudless conditions