Operational retrieval of atmospheric temperature, moisture, and ozone from MODIS infrared radiances

The algorithm for retrieving atmospheric temperature, moisture, and total column ozone using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) longwave infrared radiances is presented. The operational MODIS algorithm performs clear sky retrievals globally over land and ocean for both day and night. The algorithm is based on a regression and has an option to follow the statistical retrieval with a nonlinear physical retrieval. The regression coefficients are determined from an extension of the NOAA-88 data set containing more than 8400 global radiosonde measurements of atmospheric temperature, moisture and ozone profiles. Evaluation of atmospheric products is performed by a comparison with data from ground-based instrumentation, geostationary infrared sounders, and polar orbiting microwave sounders. MODIS moisture products are in general agreement with the gradients and distributions from the other satellites, while MODIS depicts more detailed structure with its improved spatial resolution.

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