Application of Principal Component Analysis to High-Resolution Infrared Measurement Compression and Retrieval

Abstract

A simulation study is used to demonstrate the application of principal component analysis to both the compression of, and meteorological parameter retrieval from, high-resolution infrared spectra. The study discusses the fundamental aspects of spectral correlation, distributions, and noise; the correlation between principal components (PCs) and atmospheric-level temperature and water vapor; and how an optimal subset of PCs is selected so a good compression ratio and high retrieval accuracy are obtained. Principal component analysis, principal component compression, and principal component regression under certain conditions are shown to provide 1) nearly full spectral information with little degradation, 2) noise reduction, 3) data compression with a compression ratio of approximately 15, and 4) tolerable loss of accuracy in temperature and water vapor retrieval. The techniques will therefore be valuable tools for data compression and the accurate retrieval of meteorological parameters from new-generation satellite instruments.