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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1982

A method for estimation of atmospheric water vapor profiles by microwave radiometry

Simultaneous measurements of microwave emission from the earth, in the oxygen band near 60 GHz, and the water vapor line near 183 GHz are conducted to determine the atmospheric temperature as a function of the pressure and the water vapor burden, and a combination of these two profiles yields a profile of water vapor burden versus pressure. Numerical simulations are developed by using temperature and water vapor profiles from subtropical and midlatitude radiosonde stations, and by assuming surface reflectivities typical of either land or ocean. Over a land surface, the residual rms errors in the estimated water vapor burden profile between 300 and 1000 mb are determined to range from 23 to 43% of the a priori standard deviation of water vapor burden for the corresponding climate. The relative humidity profile is also estimated and found to contain rms errors ranging from 4 to 17% of saturation. Over a seawater surface, using three additional channels of 18.5, 22.2, and 31.7 GHz, the corresponding results are found to be 3-46% of the a priori standard deviation for water vapor burden and 4-15% rms error for relative humidity.

Rosenkranz, P. W.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Microwave radiometry and hybrid precipitation measurements

It was necessary to identify the most promising measurement techniques and strategies and to understand those candidate systems in detail. The emphasis was on passive microwave remote-sensing techniques. A brief background in passive microwave and hybrid techniques for measuring precipitation, key problem areas and strategies for dealing with those problems, a precipitation measurement system, and specific recommendations are presented.

Wilheit, T. T.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Pushbroom radiometry and its potential using large space antennas

Electromagnetic radiation is emitted by matter which was heated to a temperature above absolute zero. The amount of blackbody radiation in the microwave frequency region of interest (10 to the 8th power f 10 to the 10th power Hz) emitted by matter can be determined from the Rayleigh-Jeans approximation to Planck's Radiation Law. The amount of electromagnetic radiation from matter which is not a blackbody is a function of the emissivity of the material. The emissivity is a factor less than unity and is a function of several parameters including chemical composition, temperature, frequency, surface characteristics, and viewing angle. A radiometer is an instrument which detects and provides a measure of the electromagnetic radiation being emitted by a material or surface area within the radiometer's antenna beamwidth. Microwave radiometers provide the capability for remote measurements from Earth orbits of geophysical parameters. These measurements will require the use of a microwave imaging radiometer using a large aperture deployable antenna with multiple beams in a pushbroom mode to achieve high spatial resolution and large swath width.

Harrington, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Atmospheric effects on radiometry from zenith of a plane with dark vertical protrusions

Effects of an optically thin plane-parallel scattering atmosphere on radiometric imaging from the zenith of a specific surface-type are analyzed. The surface model was previously developed to describe arid steppe, where the sparse vegetation forms dark vertical protrusions from the bright soil-plane. The analysis is in terms of the surface reflectivity to the zenith r sub p for the direct beam, which is formulated as r sub p = r sub i exp (-s tan theta sub 0), where v sub i is the Lambert law reflectivity of the soil, the protrusions parameters s is the projection on a vertical plane of protrusions per unit area and theta sub 0 is the zenith angle. The surface reflectivity r sub p is approximately equal to that for the global irradiance (which is directly measured in the field) only for a narrow range of the solar zenith angles. The effects of the atmosphere when imaging large uniform areas of this type are comparable to those in imaging a Lambert surface with a reflectivity r sub p. Thus, the effects can be approximated by those in the case of a dark Lambert surface (analyzed previously), inasmuch as r sub p is smaller than the soil reflectivity r sub i for any off-zenith illumination. The surface becomes effectively darker with increasing solar zenith angle. Adjacency effects of a reflection from one area and scattering in the instantaneous field of view (object pixel) are analyzed as cross radiance and cross irradiance.

Otterman, J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

C-band stepped frequency radiometry for hurricane probing

The measurements of wind speed and rain rate over a large dynamic range has been demonstrated by using passive microwave remote sensing measurements by a C-band radiometer flying above a hurricane. The measurements were obtained by using a unique variable frequency radiometer, the Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR), which is capable of near simultaneous measurements at several widely spaced frequencies in a near octave bandwidth in the C-band microwave frequency region. In addition, an algorithm was developed which computes the surface wind speed and rain rate from the SFMR measured radiometric brightness temperature at two frequencies, and this algorithm was tested using experimental data collected during flights into Hurricane Allen during 1980. Results showed a reasonable agreement between the SFMR measured data and measurements obtained by weather radar.

Harrington, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Radiometry using synchrotron radiation

It is possible to use synchrotron radiation from electron synchrotrons and electron storage rings as an absolute source, especially in the VUV and soft X-ray regions where other standards are difficult to find. At the NBS, an electron storage ring (SURF-II) has been used to calibrate spectrometers and photometers utilized in solar and aeronomy research and in fusion plasma diagnostics. The radiation incident on these spectrometers can be calculated to uncertainties of 3%, and a technique to exactly determine the number of electrons orbiting in the ring is currently being developed to reduce this uncertainty. Detector calibrations between 5 and 55 nm are routinely performed at SURF-II and transfer standard detectors with 6-10% uncertainties over the range 5-254 nm are supplied.

Saloman, E. B.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Solar radiometry - Spectral irradiance measurements

The present measurement accuracy of the solar spectral irradiance is insufficient to derive the real long-term solar spectral irradiance variability at all wavelengths. Possible error sources are discussed. A series of new second generation solar irradiance photometers are now under construction which should considerably improve these measurements. At the same time, efforts are made to improve the absolute UV calibration methods to derive a unified UV radiation scale.

Brueckner, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Performance appraisal of VAS radiometry for GOES-4, -5 and -6

The first three VISSR Atmospheric Sounders (VAS) were launched on GOES-4, -5, and -6 in 1980, 1981 and 1983. Postlaunch radiometric performance is assessed for noise, biases, registration and reliability, with special attention to calibration and problems in the data processing chain. The postlaunch performance of the VAS radiometer meets its prelaunch design specifications, particularly those related to image formation and noise reduction. The best instrument is carried on GOES-5, currently operational as GOES-EAST. Single sample noise is lower than expected, especially for the small longwave and large shortwave detectors. Detector to detector offsets are correctable to within the resolution limits of the instrument. Truncation, zero point and droop errors are insignificant. Absolute calibration errors, estimated from HIRS and from radiation transfer calculations, indicate moderate, but stable biases. Relative calibration errors from scanline to scanline are noticeable, but meet sounding requirements for temporarily and spatially averaged sounding fields of view. The VAS instrument is a potentially useful radiometer for mesoscale sounding operations. Image quality is very good. Soundings derived from quality controlled data meet prelaunch requirements when calculated with noise and bias resistant algorithms.

Chesters, D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Scan-angle and Detector Effects in Thematic Mapper Radiometry

The performance of the Thematic Mapper (TM) as manifested by the quality of its image data is examined in order to suggest possible improvements for data production and assess the effects of data quality on its utility for land resources applications. The major emphasis is on the radiometric characteristics of TM data, with some attention to spatial and spectral characteristics.

Metzler, M. D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Retrieval of vertical moisture profiles with microwave radiometry

A statistical correlation technique is applied to the retrieval of vertical moisture profiles from downlooking radiometric measurements of atmospheric radiation at microwave wavelengths. Only an optimum subset of available radiometer channels is selected for estimating water vapor at specific pressure levels. To test its validity the algorithm was applied, in a numerical experiment, to 50 independent tropical radiosondes over a sea surface. It was also used to retrieve continuous sequences of atmospheric moisture profiles from a set of data obtained with a 4-channel microwave radiometer carried aboard an aircraft over a land surface.

Kakar, R. K.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Global measurements of sea surface temperature, wind speed and atmospheric water content from satellite microwave radiometry

The Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) was launched on the Seasat and Nimbus 7 satellites in 1978. The SMMR has the ability to measure sea surface temperature and wind speed with the aid of microwaves. In addition, the instrument was designed to measure water vapor and cloud liquid water with better spatial resolution than previous microwave radiometers, and to make sea-ice measurements with higher precision. A description is presented of the results of global analyses of sea surface temperature, wind speed, water vapor, and cloud liquid water, taking into account data provided by the SMMR on the Seasat satellite. It is found that the SMMR data show good self-consistency, and can usefully measure global distributions of sea surface temperatures, surface winds, water vapor, and cloud liquid water.

Njoku, E. G.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Inference of cloud temperature and thickness by microwave radiometry from space

The Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) on the Seasat and Nimbus-7 satellites measured microwave radiation at 6.6, 10.69, 18.0, 21.0 and 37.0 GHz with both horizontal and vertical polarizations. Numerical simulations have been performed to explore the potential of using the 18.0, 21.0 and 37.0 GHz SMMR channels with simultaneous infrared measurements of cloud top height for retrieving cloud temperature differential and thickness over the ocean. The results suggest it is possible to infer cloud vertical thickness to approximately 0.4 km rms accuracy and cloud temperature differential to approximately 3 C rms. These accuracies are approximately half the a priori variances.

Pandey, P. C.↗
NASA NTRS1984

A statistical correlation method for the retrieval of atmospheric moisture profiles by microwave radiometry

A statistical correlation technique is applied to the retrieval of vertical moisture profiles under clear-sky conditions from down-looking radiometric measurements of atmospheric radiation at microwave wavelengths. For a given set of channels, the method selects the optimum radiometric channels for estimating water vapor at specific pressure levels between the surface and 300 mb. The water vapor mixing ratio at these pressure levels is then calculated from a linear combination of the selected channel brightness temperatures. To test its validity the algorithm was applied, in a numerical experiment, to fifty independent tropical radiosondes. The rms absolute deviation of the estimated moisture profiles from the actual profiles was comparable to that obtained using an iterative retrieval method reported earlier. The statistical method, however, requires several orders of magnitude less computer time than the iterative method; it is suitable for high speed processing of large amounts of data.

Kakar, R. K.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Photodiodes for Astronomical Stellar Radiometry

The theory of photodiodes and their application to radiometric measurements is reviewed. Some suggestions concerning photodiode detectors for use in stellar radiometric measurements are given. Quantum efficiency, linear response characteristics, and noise current values of silicon photodiodes are considered.

Schaefer, A. R.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Granitic terrains viewed remotely by Shuttle infrared radiometry - Some compositional predictions

Ratios of intensities of near-infrared spectral bands, measured in reflectance, quantitatively predict the iron content of granitic rocks. Such data from the 1.60- and 1.05-micron bands of the Shuttle multispectral infrared radiometer have been used to study granitic rocks along orbits crossing Baja California, Mexico, and the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Both regions are arid and relatively to essentially free of vegetation, and there is no indication in the spectra that surface chemical alteration masks the true composition of the unweathered rock. Predicted values of iron are consistent with known compositional types of most of the rocks along the orbital paths. Results demonstrate that the near-infrared method used is a powerful technique to average the variability of these rocks on the scales of meters to kilometers.

Baird, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Microwave radiometry as a probe of precipitation physics

The Advanced Microwave Moisture Sounder (AMMS) is a passive airborne microwave imager operating at 92 GHz and three frequencies near the 183 GHz water vapor line. Attention is presently given to AMMS measurements conducted during the Cooperative Convection Precipitation Experiment of 1981. The simple model of Nieman (1982), which consists of an imperfect mirror reflecting the downwelling radiation from the atmosphere above its surface while screening from view the upwelling radiation that reaches it from below, has been applied to these measurements. Mirror altitude and emissivity values are retrieved by an algorithm, using observations near the water vapor line.

Szejwach, G.↗