Global atmospheric temperature monitoring with satellite microwave measurements - Method and results 1979-84

Abstract A method for measuring global atmospheric temperature anomalies to a high level of precision from satellites is demonstrated. Global data from the Microwave Sounding Units (MSUs), flying on NOAA satellites since late 1978, have been analysed to determine the extent to which these data can reveal atmospheric temperature anomalies on bidaily and longer time scales for regional and larger space scales. The global sampling provided by the MSUs is an important asset, with most of the earth sampled bidaily from each of (typically) two instruments flying concurrently on separate satellites at different solar times. The primary source of tropospheric thermal information is from the MSU 53.74 GHz channel. This channel is primarily sensitive to thermal emission from molecular oxygen in the middle troposphere, with relatively little sensitivity to water vapor, the earth's surface, and cloud (especially cirrus) variations. The long-term stability of the oxygen mixing ratio in the atmosphere makes it an ideal...