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Atmospheric and Oceanic Optics

2016 year, number 1

Intercomparison of ground-based MW measurements of precipitable water vapor with radiosounding data

I.A. Berezin, Yu.M. Timofeyev, Ya.A. Virolainen, K.A. Volkova
Saint Petersburg State University, 7/9, Universitetskaja naberezhnaja, Petrodvorets, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
Keywords: влагосодержание атмосферы, МКВ-радиометр, радиозондирование, precipitable water vapor, MW radiometer, radiosounding

Abstract

Microwave (MW) radiometers are commonly used for monitoring precipitable water vapor (PWV) - the major atmospheric greenhouse gas. The quality and accuracy of the method is assessed in various measuring campaigns. In this study, we intercompare the results of PWV measurements performed with a ground-based MW radiometer RPG-HATPRO (at the Peterhof station of Saint Petersburg State University) and radiosounding data obtained at the Voeykovo station. The dataset includes more than 850 coincident measurements (at the day and at the nighttime) for the period between March 13, 2013 and May 31, 2014. The discrepancy of the both methods is caused by the errors of methods as well as by the spatial inhomogeneity of the fields of PWV in atmosphere. These mismatches can reach tens of percent, which must be taken into account in the intercomparison and validation of different methods for PWV retrieval. The exclusion of cases with significant moisture inhomogeneity allowed the reducing of mean errors and their standard deviation between two sets of measurements up to 3-4% and 12-14%, respectively.