A retrieval algorithm of atmospheric water vapor and cloud liquid water for AMSR-E

Abstract

This paper describes an improved retrieval algorithm of Total Precipitable Water (TPW) and Cloud Liquid Water (CLW) for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer—Earth Observing System (AMSR-E). The original algorithm has been developed to produce a standard AMSR-E TPW at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). In this study, the algorithm was improved and a new capability was introduced to retrieve CLW. The derived TPW products were compared with TPW from Radio Sonde Observations (RAOB) and Global Positioning System (GPS) Integrated Water Vapor (IWV). The retrieved CLW were assessed in term of cross talks with other geophysical parameters, such as sea surface temperature, sea surface wind speed and TPW.

Keywords:

• Total precipitable water
• cloud liquid water
• microwave radiometer