Improvements in the Accuracy of Operational Satellite Soundings

Root-mean-square differences between satellite and radiosondes for the past three years that TIROS-N has been operational are examined. They show a pronounced annual cycle because the statistics are dominated by the Northern Hemisphere. Differences are smaller in the summer and are larger in the win...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of climate and applied meteorology 1983-11, Vol.22 (11), p.1948-1955
Main Authors: McMillin, L. M., Gray, D. G., Drahos, H. F., Chalfant, M. W., Novak, C. S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Artificial satellites
Atmospheric layers
Clouds
Earth, ocean, space
Error rates
Estimate reliability
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Meteorological applications
Meteorology
Microwaves
Radiosondes
Sondes
Temperature gradients
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Summary:Root-mean-square differences between satellite and radiosondes for the past three years that TIROS-N has been operational are examined. They show a pronounced annual cycle because the statistics are dominated by the Northern Hemisphere. Differences are smaller in the summer and are larger in the winter, but they reflect a change in the effect of location differences as well as retrieval error. In addition to the annual cycle, there is an increase in retrieval accuracy with time. For the partly cloudy retrievals, the increase approaches 1.3 K for some levels.
ISSN:0733-3021
2163-5366
DOI:10.1175/1520-0450(1983)022<1948:iitaoo>2.0.co;2