Comparison between Infrared and Microwave Radiometers for Retrieving Sea Surface Temperature

The basic principles of sea surface temperature （SST） remote sensing using infrared and microwave radiometers are introduced, and the differences between two sensors for retrieving sea surface temperature are investigated. The ground resolution, atmospheric effect, sea surface wind, skin depth and so on have important influence on precision of sea surface temperature retrieved by two sensors. The better understanding of the advantage and disadvantage of sea surface temperature detected by infrared and microwave radiometers would help us to imply SST remote sensing data more effectively and correctly.

Application Concept of Zero Method Measurement in Microwave Radiometers

This article examined in detail microwave radiometer functioning algorithm with synchronously using of the two types of pulse modulation: amplitude pulse modulation and pulse-width modulation. This allows a zero-radiometer measurement method to realize when the fluctuation effect of the receiver gain and the influence of its own noise changes are minimized. A zero balance automatically maintains in radiometer. The antenna signal is indirectly determined through the signal duration that controls the pulse-width modulation. An analytical expression of the fluctuation sensitivity was obtained in a general form. From its analysis gain in sensitivity, conditions were defined by the optimizing of the radiometer input knot’s construction. Three modifications of the radiometer input knot were researched. Fluctuation sensitivity at different measurement range was determined for modification of the radiometer input knot.

The development of semiconductor detectors for radiometers of alpha‑radiation and the examination of the volumetric activity of radon in various areas

Purpose Development of highly sensitive semiconductor detectors of large diameter and manufacturing of a measuring complex—a radiometer based on the developed detectors for studying the activity of alpha particles and the volumetric activity of radon in various media.Methods The detectors were manufactured using surface-barrier and heterojunction technologies.Polishing etchant formulations for silicon have been developed.To obtain plane-parallelism of the plates during chemical etching,a special dynamic setup was used.The structure of the radiometer,electrical circuits,and device software have been developed.Results The results of the development of technology for the manufacture of detectors of large dimensions(30-100 mm in diameter)are presented.Studies of the electrical and radiometric characteristics of surface-barrier n detectors and detectors based on Al-αGe-pSi-Au heterojunctions were carried out.The principle of operation of the electronic components of a radiometer made using these detectors is also given.Conclusion The data of monitoring of radon content in soil air are given.Monitoring results showed that the concentration varies depending on temperature,humidity,and time of day.The GSM/SMS module allows the device to operate in real time.

TP-PROFILE: Monitoring the Thermodynamic Structure of the Troposphere over the Third Pole

Ground-based microwave radiometers(MWRs)operating in the K-and V-bands(20–60 GHz)can help us obtain temperature and humidity profiles in the troposphere.Aside from some soundings from local meteorological observatories,the tropospheric atmosphere over the Tibetan Plateau(TP)has never been continuously observed.As part of the Chinese Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program(STEP),the Tibetan Plateau Atmospheric Profile(TPPROFILE)project aims to construct a comprehensive MWR troposphere observation network to study the synoptic processes and environmental changes on the TP.This initiative has collected three years of data from the MWR network.This paper introduces the data information,the data quality,and data downloading.Some applications of the data obtained from these MWRs were also demonstrated.Our comparisons of MWR against the nearest radiosonde observation demonstrate that the TP-PROFILE MWR system is adequate for monitoring the thermal and moisture variability of the troposphere over the TP.The continuous temperature and moisture profiles derived from the MWR data provide a unique perspective on the evolution of the thermodynamic structure associated with the heating of the TP.The TP-PROFILE project reveals that the low-temporal resolution instruments are prone to large uncertainties in their vapor estimation in the mountain valleys on the TP.

Improving Satellite-Retrieved Cloud Base Height with Ground-Based Cloud Radar Measurements

Cloud base height(CBH) is a crucial parameter for cloud radiative effect estimates, climate change simulations, and aviation guidance. However, due to the limited information on cloud vertical structures included in passive satellite radiometer observations, few operational satellite CBH products are currently available. This study presents a new method for retrieving CBH from satellite radiometers. The method first uses the combined measurements of satellite radiometers and ground-based cloud radars to develop a lookup table(LUT) of effective cloud water content(ECWC), representing the vertically varying cloud water content. This LUT allows for the conversion of cloud water path to cloud geometric thickness(CGT), enabling the estimation of CBH as the difference between cloud top height and CGT. Detailed comparative analysis of CBH estimates from the state-of-the-art ECWC LUT are conducted against four ground-based millimeter-wave cloud radar(MMCR) measurements, and results show that the mean bias(correlation coefficient) is0.18±1.79 km(0.73), which is lower(higher) than 0.23±2.11 km(0.67) as derived from the combined measurements of satellite radiometers and satellite radar-lidar(i.e., Cloud Sat and CALIPSO). Furthermore, the percentages of the CBH biases within 250 m increase by 5% to 10%, which varies by location. This indicates that the CBH estimates from our algorithm are more consistent with ground-based MMCR measurements. Therefore, this algorithm shows great potential for further improvement of the CBH retrievals as ground-based MMCR are being increasingly included in global surface meteorological observing networks, and the improved CBH retrievals will contribute to better cloud radiative effect estimates.

Feasibility of maintaining satellite altimetry calibration site based on qianliyan islet at the Yellow Sea

The calibration of the sea surface height(SSH)measured by satellite altimeters is essential to understand altimeter biases.Many factors affects the construction and maintenance of a permanent calibration site.In order to calibrate Chinese satellite altimetry missions,the feasibility of maintaining a calibration site based on the Qianliyan islet in Yellow Sea of China is taken into account.The related calibration facilities,such as the permanent tide gauge,GNSS reference station and meteorological station,were already operated by the Ministry of Natural Resources of China.The data could be fully used for satellite altimeter calibration with small fiscal expenditure.In addition,the location and marine environments of Qianliyan were discussed.Finally,we used the Jason-3 mission to check the possibility of calibration works.The result indicates that the brightness temperatures of three channels measured by microwave radiometer(MWR)and the derived wet tropospheric correction varies smoothly,which means the land contamination to MWR could be ignored.The high frequency waveforms at the Qianliyan site present no obvious difference from the normal waveforms received by satellite radar altimeter over the open ocean.In conclusion,the Qianliyan islet will not influence satellite altimetry observation.Following these analyses,a possible layout and mechanism of the Qianliyan calibration site are proposed.

Assessment of Greenland surface melt algorithms based on DMSP and SMOS data

Satellite-borne microwave radiometers provide essential measurements to study the surface melt state of ice sheets. Therefore, selecting suitable microwave radiometer data is critical to characterize the spatial distribution of surface melt. In this study, we investigated the Greenland Ice Sheet and evaluated the usefulness, as climate indicators, of data acquired by microwave radiometers onboard the F17 satellite of the United States of America Defense Meteorological Satellite Program(DMSP) and the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity(SMOS) satellite of the European Space Agency. First, surface melt was simulated using the DMSP dataset as input for a brightness temperature threshold algorithm, the Microwave Emission Model of Layered Snowpacks(MEMLS2), and the SMOS dataset as input for the L-band Specific MEMLS(LS-MEMLS). For accuracy evaluation, the simulation results were then compared with surface melt estimates derived from air temperature measurements at Automatic Weather Stations and from ice surface temperature measurements from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) satellite-borne instrument. Our results show that global(over Greenland) MEMLS2 simulation performance(overall accuracy 83%) was higher than that of LS-MEMLS(overall accuracy 78%). However, in southeastern Greenland, MEMLS2 omission error was markedly higher than that of LS-MEMLS, whereas LS-MEMLS could detect longer-lasting surface melt than MEMLS2. This analysis showed that DMSP-based surface melt simulations are more accurate than SMOS-based simulations, thereby providing a data selection reference for surface melt studies of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

ASTER数据在浅覆盖区蚀变遥感异常信息提取中的应用-以新疆西准噶尔包古图斑岩铜矿岩体为例

遥感卫星的多光谱数据应用于找矿已取得显著成效,2004年7月中国卫星地面站开始提供ASTER(Advanced Space-borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer,高级星载热发射反照辐射计)数据,因涵盖波长范围宽[VNIR(Visible and Near Infra-red)、SWIR(Short wave-length Infra-red)、TIR(Thermal Infra-red)]、波段多(14个波段)、性价比合理等因素,ASTER数据的研究迅速发展。长久以来,对覆盖区进行蚀变遥感异常信息提取一直是遥感找矿的关注点之一。笔者等利用ASTER数据对浅覆盖区——包古图斑岩铜矿的Ⅱ号、Ⅴ号斑岩体进行蚀变遥感异常提取,提取的蚀变异常与野外地质情况吻合性好。分别提取了光谱特征谱带差异明显的2组蚀变矿物的异常信息:第一组是蒙脱石、埃洛石、伊利石与绢云母;第二组是方解石、黑云母与绿泥石。提出了需要进一步工作的异常靶区。

基于可见光红外成像辐射仪数据的地表温度反演

地表温度是农业旱灾和作物估产模型的重要参数。该文针对可见光红外成像辐射仪(visible infrared imager radiometer suite,VIIRS)传感器缺乏水汽通道的特点,联合Aqua卫星搭载的中分辨率成像光谱仪(moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer,MODIS)数据提出了基于分裂窗算法的VIIRS地表温度反演方法。对地表发射率和大气透过率这2个关键参数的获取进行了详细分析,选取了处于作物生长期的2013年6月4日VIIRS数据进行实例验证分析。结果表明,与全国气象数据比较该文算法在大尺度上能够较好地获取中国地表温度;与MODIS数据温度产品在高温产粮区比较,该文算法与MODIS温度产品精度较一致,两者差值小于1 K。使用MODTRAN(moderate resolution transmission)软件对算法的精度进行了模拟评价验证,分析表明:在一定的水汽和地表发射率条件下,算法反演精度一般保持在1 K内,平均误差为0.431 K,误差标准偏差为0.247 K。能够为农业干旱、作物长势等农情信息监测提供所需的地表温度数据。

AMSR2辐射率资料同化对台风“山神”分析和预报的影响研究

在WRFDA-3DVar(Weather Research and Forecasting model’s 3-dimensional variational data assimilation)的框架下,添加了新的探测器AMSR2(Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2)微波辐射率资料的同化模块,实现了AMSR2辐射率资料在中小尺度同化系统中的有效使用。台风"山神"(Son-Tinh)直接同化AMSR2资料的个例试验结果表明,AMSR2资料可以很好的探测出台风的形态,并且与没有同化该资料的控制试验相比,同化AMSR2辐射率资料可以有效提高模式分析场的质量,进一步提高了台风中心气压,最大风速和台风路径的预报。

Meteorological applications of precipitable water vapor measurements retrieved by the national GNSS network of China

In this study, the Global Navigation Satellite System （GNSS） network of China is discussed, which can be used to monitor atmospheric precipitable water vapor （PWV）. By the end of 2013, the network had 952 GNSS sites, including 260 belonging to the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China （CMONOC） and 692 belonging to the China Meteorological Administration GNSS network （CMAGN）. Additionally, GNSS observation collecting and data processing procedures are presented and PWV data quality control methods are investigated. PWV levels as determined by GNSS and radiosonde are compared. The results show that GNSS estimates are generally in good agreement with measurements of radio- sondes and water vapor radiometers （WVR）. The PWV retrieved by the national GNSS network is used in weather forecasting, assimilation of data into numerical weather prediction models, the validation of PWV estimates by radiosonde, and plum rain monitoring. The network is also used to monitor the total ionospheric electron content.

Spatial and Temporal Variability of Water Vapor Content during 1961-2011 in Tianshan Mountains,China

Based on the climate factors data and surface vapor pressure （SVP） data of 44 weather stations in Tianshan Mountains during the years 1961-2011, this paper establishes a water vapor content （WVC） estimation model according to the relationship between monthly WVC of radiosonde and corresponding SVP and analyzes the spatial and temporal variability of WVC and their causes. The results show that the WVC is linearly and negatively related to the elevation and longitude （Vertical zonality and Longitude zonality）, while it was not linearly related to the latitude. The westerly wind, geographical situation and sea level elevation composed complex surface conditions to influence the spatial distribution of WVC in the Tianshan Mountains. The Mann-Kendall （M-K） statistical test shows a significant increasing trend in the mean annual WVC in Tianshan Mountains during 1961- 2011（P 〈 0.001）, with a rate of 0.23 mm/decade, and indicates an abrupt turning point in 1985 （P.〈0.001）. Correlation analysis shows that the WVC are significantly correlated to the temperature, especially during the winter, but the summer WVC are significantly correlated to the precipitation. In addition, the North Atlantic Oscillation Index （NAOI） and the Arctic Oscillation Index （AOI） are significantly correlated to the winter WVC in the Tianshan Mountains. As a new Microwave radiometric profilers （MWRPs） instrument, the MP- 3000A provides continuous, real-time and high temporal resolution atmospheric profiles up to 10 km. In order to monitor water vapor and atmosphere profiles in Tianshan Mountains, an MP-3000A was established in Urumqi （43.8°N, 87.58°N） in May 2008. The results indicated that the MP-3oooA was applicable to this area, and the evolutionary process of water vapor and the WVC peak values of MP- 3000A were a strong signal for rainstorm and flood forecasts for Urumqi and the Tianshan Mountains.

Detection technique of moving target based on passive millimeter wave

To solve the problem of insufficient ability when detecting the high-speed moving target with passive millimeter wave technology, a direct-detection passive millimeter wave detecting system using the monolithic microwave integrated cir- cuit （MMIC） millimeter wave radiometer is built, and the measured data are obtained by experiment under different condi- tions. Based on feature analysis of testing signals, it points out that the peak of the first pulse and interval of two peak pulses are valid features which can reflect the motion characteristic of target. A method to calculate the moving speed of target is put forward. The calculating results indicate that the proposed method has enough accuracy and is feasible to determine the parameters of the moving target using for passive millimeter wave system.

Primary Analysis of Sounding Data from a Multi-channel Parallel Ground-based Microwave Radiometer

The sounding data of a multi-channel parallel ground-based microwave radiometer （MWR） in Fuzhou station in July and August in 2016 were compared with the sounding data of a radiosonde in the same position in the same period. The results showed that the correlations between the two types of temperature or humidity detected by the microwave radiometer and the radiosonde were significant at 0.05 level, indicating that the overall changing trends of temperature or humidity detected by the two devices were similar. The temperature detected by the microwave radiometer and the radiosonde decreased with the increase of height. The difference between the changes in the height of the zero layer detected by the micro- wave radiometer and the radiosonde was not significant, and their trends were basically the same.

Multisensor Comparisons for Validation of MODIS Vegetation Indices

Vegetation indices （Ⅵ） are one of the standard science products available from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer （MODIS）. Validation of MODIS-Ⅵ products was an important prerequisite to using these variables for global modeling. In this study, validation of the MODIS-Ⅵ products including single-day MODIS, level 2 （gridded） daily MODIS surface reflectance （MOD09）, 16-day composited MODIS （MOD13） was performed utilizing multisensor data from MODIS, Thematic Mapper （TM）, and field radiometer, for a rice-planting region in southern China. The validation approach involved scaling up independent fine-grained datasets, including ground measurement and high spatial resolution imagery, to the coarser MODIS spatial resolutions. The 16-day composited MODIS reflectance and Ⅵ matched well with the ground measurement reflectance and Ⅵ. The Ⅵ of TM and MODIS were lower than the ground Ⅵ. The results demonstrated the accuracy, reliability, and utility of the MODIS-Ⅵ products for the study region.

An assessment of arctic sea ice concentration retrieval based on “HY-2” scanning radiometer data using field observations during CHINARE-2012 and other satellite instruments

A retrieval algorithm of arctic sea ice concentration （SIC） based on the brightness temperature data of “HY-2” scanning microwave radiometer has been constructed. The tie points of the brightness temperature were selected based on the statistical analysis of a polarization gradient ratio and a spectral gradient ratio over open water （OW）, first-year ice （FYI）, and multiyear ice （MYI） in arctic. The thresholds from two weather filters were used to reduce atmospheric effects over the open ocean. SIC retrievals from the “HY-2” radiom-eter data for idealized OW, FYI, and MYI agreed well with theoretical values. The 2012 annual SIC was calcu-lated and compared with two reference operational products from the National Snow and Ice Data Center （NSIDC） and the University of Bremen. The total ice-covered area yielded by the “HY-2” SIC was consistent with the results from the reference products. The assessment of SIC with the aerial photography from the fifth Chinese national arctic research expedition （CHINARE） and six synthetic aperture radar （SAR） images from the National Ice Service was carried out. The “HY-2” SIC product was 16% higher than the values de-rived from the aerial photography in the central arctic. The root-mean-square （RMS） values of SIC between “HY-2” and SAR were comparable with those between the reference products and SAR, varying from 8.57% to 12.34%. The “HY-2” SIC is a promising product that can be used for operational services.

Evaluating the suitability of different terrains for sustaining human settlements according to the local elevation range in China using the ASTER GDEM

The topographical suitability assessment of human settlements(SAHS) creates a solid foundation for regional population distribution and socio-economic development. Local elevation range(LER) is an important factor that can be used to assess the suitability of different terrains for sustaining human settlements. However, current digital elevation model(DEM)-based LER products suffer from some challenges typically because of their subjectively selected neighborhood scales and coarser spatial resolution. In this study, we initially determined the optimal statistical window and then calculated the appropriate LER with the finer resolution data of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global DEM(ASTER GDEM) products for China. Then, the appropriate LER was used to evaluate the topographical SAHS and its correlations with the national gridded population distribution(1 km × 1 km) in 2010. The results show that the optimal statistical window for calculating a 1 arc-second(about 30 m) resolution GDEM LER for China can be determined using a 51 × 51 grid unit(width × height) within a rectangular neighborhood, corresponding to an area of about 2.34 km^2. Secondly, the LER values in the southern and western China were greater than those of the north and east, showing a trend which consistently reflects the general spatial features of landforms. Finally, the relationship between GDEM LER and population density was highly correlated with the R^2 value of 0.81. It showed that 85.22% of the Chinese population was located in areas where the LER is lower than 500 m. The topographically suitable area within China decreased from the southeastern coastal zone towards the northwestern inland areas due to transition from plains and basins to plateaus and mountains. The total area of moderate to high suitable level was 423.84 × 10~4 km^2, or 44.15% of the total land area, with 88.17% of the national population. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of appropriate LER in evaluating the topographical SAHS as well as its significant impact on population distribution.

Satellite retrieval of hurricane wind speeds using the AMSR2 microwave radiometer

The AMSR2 microwave radiometer is the main payload of the GCOM-W1 satellite,launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in 2012. Based on the pre-launch information extraction algorithm,the AMSR2 enables remote monitoring of geophysical parameters such as sea surface temperature,wind speed,water vapor,and liquid cloud water content. However,rain alters the properties of atmospheric scattering and absorption,which contaminates the brightness temperatures measured by the microwave radiometer. Therefore,it is difficult to retrieve AMSR2-derived sea surface wind speeds under rainfall conditions. Based on microwave radiative transfer theory,and using AMSR2 L1 brightness temperature data obtained in August 2012 and NCEP reanalysis data,we studied the sensitivity of AMSR2 brightness temperatures to rain and wind speed,from which a channel combination of brightness temperature was established that is insensitive to rainfall,but sensitive to wind speed. Using brightness temperatures obtained with the proposed channel combination as input parameters,in conjunction with HRD wind field data,and adopting multiple linear regression and BP neural network methods,we established an algorithm for hurricane wind speed retrieval under rainfall conditions. The results showed that the standard deviation and relative error of retrievals,obtained using the multiple linear regression algorithm,were 3.1 m/s and 13%,respectively. However,the standard deviation and relative error of retrievals obtained using the BP neural network algorithm were better(2.1 m/s and 8%,respectively). Thus,the results of this paper preliminarily verified the feasibility of using microwave radiometers to extract sea surface wind speeds under rainfall conditions.

Assessment of the initial sea surface temperature product of the scanning microwave radiometer aboard on HY-2 satellite

HY-2 satellite is the first satellite for dynamic environmental parameters measurement of China,which was launched on 16th August 2011.A scanning microwave radiometer（RM） is carried for sea surface temperature（SST）,sea surface wind speed,columnar water vapor and columnar cloud liquid water detection.In this paper,the initial SST product of RM was validated with in-situ data of National Data of Buoy Center（NDBC） mooring and Argo buoy.The validation results indicate the accuracy of RM SST is better than 1.7 C.The comparison of RM SST and WindSat SST shows the former is warmer than the latter at high sea surface wind speed and the difference between these SSTs is depend on the sea surface wind speed.Then,the relationship between the errors of RM SST and sea surface wind speed was analyzed using NDBC mooring measurements.Based on the results of assessment and errors analysis,the suggestions of taking account of the affection of sea surface wind speed and using sea surface wind speed and direction derived from the microwave scatteromter aboard on HY-2 for SST product calibration were given for retrieval algorithm improvement.

Retrieval algorithm of sea surface wind vectors for WindSat based on a simple forward model

WindSat/Coriolis is the first satellite-borne polarimetric microwave radiometer, which aims to improve the potential of polarimetric microwave radiometry for measuring sea surface wind vectors from space. In this paper, a wind vector retrieval algorithm based on a novel and simple forward model was developed for WindSat. The retrieval algorithm of sea surface wind speed was developed using multiple linear regression based on the simulation dataset of the novel forward model. Sea surface wind directions that minimize the difference between simulated and measured values of the third and fourth Stokes parameters were found using maximum likelihood estimation, by which a group of ambiguous wind directions was obtained. A median filter was then used to remove ambiguity of wind direction. Evaluated with sea surface wind speed and direction data from the U.S. National Data Buoy Center （NDBC）, root mean square errors are 1.2 rn/s and 30~ for retrieved wind speed and wind direction, respectively. The evaluation results suggest that the simple forward model and the retrieval algorithm are practicable for near-real time applications, without reducing accuracy.