Comparison of Column Water Vapor Measurements Using Downward-looking Near-Infrared and Infrared Imaging Systems and Upward-looking Microwave Radiometers

Abstract Remote soundings of precipitable water vapor from three systems are compared with each other and with ground truth from radiosondes. Ancillary data from a mesoscale network of surface observing stations and from wind-profiling radars are also used in the analysis. The three remote-sounding techniques are: (a) a reflectance technique using spectral data collected by the Airborne Visible-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS); (b) an emission technique using Visible-Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) data acquired from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES); and (c) a microwave technique using data from a limited network of three ground-based dual-channel microwave radiometers. The data were taken over the Front Range of eastern Colorado on 22–23 March 1990. The generally small differences between the three types of rernote-sounding measurements are consistent with the horizontal and temporal...