Fourier Transform Spectroscopy with Partially Scanned Interferograms as a Tool to Retrieve Atmospheric Gases Concentrations from High Spectral Resolution Satellite Observations – Methodological Aspects and Application to IASI

In the context of infrared remote sensing, the idea of using partially scanned interferograms for the retrieval of atmospheric parameters dates back to Kyle (1977) who argued that large portions of the spectrum (the Fourier transform of the interferogram and vice versa) could bring poor or no information for a given atmospheric parameter, whereas small ranges in the interferogram domain could concentrate much information about the parameter at hand. Kyle (1977) exemplified the technique for temperature, whereas a correlation interferometer was proposed for the observation of atmospheric trace gases by Goldstein et al. (1978). The direct inversion of small segments of interferometric radiances for the purpose of temperature retrieval was further analyzed and exemplified in Smith et al. (1979).