Current Retrieval Algorithms for Near-Surface Specific Humidity

 

The retrieval algorithms for near-surface specific humidity, Qa, and air temperature, Ta, all have the form:

 

Ta, Qa = C0 + ∑CnTnM

 

where TM indicates brightness temperatures in Kelvin from one of the three M instruments (A for AMSU-A, M for SSM/I, and T for SSM/T-2), Cn indicates coefficients from the regression, and the summation is over the n channels used for the regression.

 

The coefficients for the Qa retrievals for the various instrument combinations are summarized in the following table.  The frequency for each channel is noted in the left column and the superscripts indicate the order of channel selection.

 

 

A/M/T

M/T

A

M

RMS

(g/kg)

0.83

1.06

0.92

1.12

C0 (g/kg)

-105.117

-27.9036

-34.6310

-12.8597

A 23.8

 

 

0.22051  2

 

A 31.4

 

 

 

 

A 50.3

 

 

-0.51428  3

 

A 52.8

0.31743  1

 

1.13815  1 

 

A 53.6

 

 

-0.66044  4

 

A 54.4

 

 

 

 

M 19V

0.62754  2

 

 

 

M 19H

-0.12056  4

 

 

 

M 22V

 

0.30907  1

 

0.35341  1

M 37V

-0.33940  3

-0.22467  2

 

-0.21166  2

M 37H

 

 

 

-0.05988 3

T 183±3

 

 

 

 

T 183±1

 

 

 

 

T 183±7

 

0.06870  3

 

 

 

The corresponding coefficients for the Ta retrievals are given as follows:

 

 

A/M

A

RMS (oC)

1.53

1.95

C0 (oC)

-191.986

-301.463

A 23.8

 

0.04230 2

A 31.4

 

 

A 50.3

-0.35046  5

 

A 52.8

1.05645  1

1.21225  1

A 53.6

 

 

A 54.4

 

 

M 19V

0.65036  4

 

M 19H

 

 

M 22V

0.00493  2

 

M 37V

-0.52680  3

 

M 37H