Radiometric Information Content for Water Vapor and Temperature Profiling in Clear Skies Between 10 and 200 GHz

Atmospheric profiles of water vapor and temperature can be estimated using appropriate retrieval algorithms based on radiometric measurements and atmospheric statistics. Radiometric measurements at multiple frequencies contribute information to profile retrieval, although at some frequencies the information they provide can be highly correlated with that at other frequencies due to similar sensitivities to changes in atmospheric pressure, temperature, and water vapor mixing ratio as a function of altitude. The goal for profile retrieval is to obtain as many independent measurements as possible, both to maximize the vertical resolution and to minimize the retrieval error of the profile. The goal of this study is to determine sets of frequencies in the range from 10 to 200 GHz that provide the largest amount of mutually independent information on water vapor and temperature profiles from ground and airborne instruments for clear sky measurements. Results of such a study are important and useful for frequency selection and design of microwave and millimeter-wave radiometers for humidity and temperature profiling. A branch and bound feature selection algorithm has been used to determine sets of frequencies between 10 and 200 GHz that have the greatest number of degrees of freedom (DOF) for water vapor and temperature retrieval. In general, it has been found that the frequency ranges of 20–23, 85–90, and 165–200 GHz are useful for water vapor profile retrieval, whereas the frequency ranges of 55– 65 and 116–120 GHz are useful for temperature profile retrieval. Finally, an analysis has been performed to determine the impact of measurement uncertainty on the number of DOF of measurement and also on the vertical resolution. It was also found that vertical resolution is directly related to the number of DOF.