A Comparison of Temperature Soundings Obtained from Simultaneous Radiometric, Radio-Acoustic, and Rawinsonde Measurements

Abstract

Atmospheric temperature soundings retrieved from a radio-acoustic sounding system (RASS), a six-channel microwave radiometer system, and a combined RASS/radiometer system during two seasons at Denver, Colorado, are compared. The retrieval technique employed, which operationally produces temperature soundings from the radiometer measurements, extends the RASS altitude coverage and provides a simple way to combine RASS and radiometer measurements. Accuracy is evaluated by comparing the retrieved soundings with colocated rawinsonde soundings. Little difference in accuracy among systems is observed during summer, but the winter dataset, characterized by strong low-level temperature inversions, demonstrates the superior vertical resolution of RASS within its measurement altitude range. At higher altitudes, the quality of temperature soundings retrieved from RASS alone are comparable to those of the radiometer alone. Some improvement in accuracy results from combining RASS and radiometer information.