GROUND-BASED MICROWAVE RADIOMETRY FOR RECOVERY OF AVERAGE TEMPERATURE PROFILES OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Calculations and analyses are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of inverting multi-frequency brightness temperature measurements obtained with an oxygen-band radiometer to recover the average kinetic temperature profile of the atmosphere. Special attention is given to cloud effects, radiation from above the atmospheric model, radiative-transfer equation solutions, effects of radiometer measurement errors on the profile recovery accuracy, and the selection of optimum observing frequencies. Recovered temperatures could be used to calculate pressure altitudes, which for a network of ground stations would provide the pressure gradient for calculating winds aloft. Such information is required for long-term numerical weather forecasting. (Author)