Determination of cloud liquid water content using the SSM/I |
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Authors: | Alishouse J.C. Snider J.B. Westwater E.R. Swift C.T. Ruf C.S. Snyder S.A. Vongsathorn J. Ferraro R.R. |
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Affiliation: | NOAA, Washington, DC; |
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Abstract: | As part of a calibration/validation effort for the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), coincident observations of SSM/I brightness temperatures and surface-based observations of cloud liquid water were obtained. These observations were used to validate initial algorithms and to derive an improved algorithm. The initial algorithms were divided into latitudinal-, seasonal-, and surface-type zones. It was found that these initial algorithms, which were of the D-matrix type, did not yield sufficiently accurate results. The surface-based measurements of channels were investigated; however, the 85 V channel was excluded because of excessive noise. It was found that there is no significant correlation between the SSM/I brightness temperatures and the surface-based cloud liquid water determination when the background surface is land or snow. A high correlation was found between brightness temperatures and ground-based measurements over the ocean |
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