Satellite temperature measurement: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 04:58, 23 September 2025

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Multiple image Template:Broader

Satellite temperature measurements are inferences of the temperature of the atmosphere at various altitudes as well as sea and land surface temperatures obtained from radiometric measurements by satellites. These measurements can be used to locate weather fronts, monitor the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, determine the strength of tropical cyclones, study urban heat islands and monitor the global climate. Wildfires, volcanos, and industrial hot spots can also be found via thermal imaging from weather satellites.

Weather satellites do not measure temperature directly. They measure radiances in various wavelength bands. Since 1978 microwave sounding units (MSUs) on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration polar orbiting satellites have measured the intensity of upwelling microwave radiation from atmospheric oxygen, which is related to the temperature of broad vertical layers of the atmosphere. Measurements of infrared radiation pertaining to sea surface temperature have been collected since 1967.

Satellite datasets show that over the past four decadesTemplate:Clarify timeframe the troposphere has warmed and the stratosphere has cooled. Both of these trends are consistent with the influence of increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases.

Principles

Satellites measure radiances in various wavelength bands, which must then be mathematically inverted to obtain indirect inferences of temperature.^[1]^[2] The resulting temperature profiles depend on details of the methods that are used to obtain temperatures from radiances. As a result, different groups that have analyzed the satellite data have produced differing temperature datasets.

The satellite time series is not homogeneous. It is constructed from a series of satellites with similar but not identical sensors. The sensors also deteriorate over time, and corrections are necessary for orbital drift and decay.^[3]^[4]^[5] Particularly large differences between reconstructed temperature series occur at the few times when there is little temporal overlap between successive satellites, making intercalibration difficult.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".^[6]

Infrared measurements

Surface measurements

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Infrared radiation can be used to measure both the temperature of the surface (using "window" wavelengths to which the atmosphere is transparent), and the temperature of the atmosphere (using wavelengths for which the atmosphere is not transparent, or measuring cloud top temperatures in infrared windows).

Satellites used to retrieve surface temperatures via measurement of thermal infrared in general require cloud-free conditions. Some of the instruments include the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Along Track Scanning Radiometers (AASTR), Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), and the ACE Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE‐FTS) on the Canadian SCISAT-1 satellite.^[7]

Weather satellites have been available to infer sea surface temperature (SST) information since 1967, with the first global composites occurring during 1970.^[8] Since 1982,^[9] satellites have been increasingly utilized to measure SST and have allowed its spatial and temporal variation to be viewed more fully. For example, changes in SST monitored via satellite have been used to document the progression of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation since the 1970s.^[10]

Over land the retrieval of temperature from radiances is harder, because of inhomogeneities in the surface.^[11] Studies have been conducted on the urban heat island effect via satellite imagery.^[12] By using the fractal technique, Weng, Q. et al. characterized the spatial pattern of urban heat island.^[13] Use of advanced very high resolution infrared satellite imagery can be used, in the absence of cloudiness, to detect density discontinuities (weather fronts) such as cold fronts at ground level.^[14] Using the Dvorak technique, infrared satellite imagery can be used to determine the temperature difference between the eye and the cloud top temperature of the central dense overcast of mature tropical cyclones to estimate their maximum sustained winds and their minimum central pressures.^[15]

Along Track Scanning Radiometers aboard weather satellites are able to detect wildfires, which show up at night as pixels with a greater temperature than Template:Convert.^[16] The Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard the Terra satellite can detect thermal hot spots associated with wildfires, volcanoes, and industrial hot spots.^[17]

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on the Aqua satellite, launched in 2002, uses infrared detection to measure near-surface temperature.^[18]

Stratosphere measurements

Stratospheric temperature measurements are made from the Stratospheric Sounding Unit (SSU) instruments, which are three-channel infrared (IR) radiometers.^[19] Since this measures infrared emission from carbon dioxide, the atmospheric opacity is higher and hence the temperature is measured at a higher altitude (stratosphere) than microwave measurements.

Since 1979 the Stratospheric sounding units (SSUs) on the NOAA operational satellites have provided near global stratospheric temperature data above the lower stratosphere. The SSU is a far-infrared spectrometer employing a pressure modulation technique to make measurement in three channels in the 15 μm carbon dioxide absorption band. The three channels use the same frequency but different carbon dioxide cell pressure, the corresponding weighting functions peaks at 29 km for channel 1, 37 km for channel 2 and 45 km for channel 3.^[20]Template:Clarify

The process of deriving trends from SSUs measurement has proved particularly difficult because of satellite drift, inter-calibration between different satellites with scant overlap and gas leaks in the instrument carbon dioxide pressure cells. Furthermore since the radiances measured by SSUs are due to emission by carbon dioxide the weighting functions move to higher altitudes as the carbon dioxide concentration in the stratosphere increase. Mid to upper stratosphere temperatures shows a strong negative trend interspersed by transient volcanic warming after the explosive volcanic eruptions of El Chichón and Mount Pinatubo, little temperature trend has been observed since 1995. The greatest cooling occurred in the tropical stratosphere consistent with enhanced Brewer-Dobson circulation under greenhouse gas concentrations increase.^[21]Template:Primary source inline

Lower stratospheric cooling is mainly caused by the effects of ozone depletion with a possible contribution from increased stratospheric water vapor and greenhouse gases increase.^[22]^[23] There has been a decline in stratospheric temperatures, interspersed by warmings related to volcanic eruptions. Global Warming theory suggests that the stratosphere should cool while the troposphere warms.^[24]

File:STAR TTS SSU Trend.png

Top of the stratosphere (TTS) 1979–2006 temperature trend.

The long term cooling in the lower stratosphere occurred in two downward steps in temperature both after the transient warming related to explosive volcanic eruptions of El Chichón and Mount Pinatubo, this behavior of the global stratospheric temperature has been attributed to global ozone concentration variation in the two years following volcanic eruptions.^[25]

Since 1996 the trend is slightly positive^[26] due to ozone recovery juxtaposed to a cooling trend of 0.1K/decade that is consistent with the predicted impact of increased greenhouse gases.^[25]

The table below shows the stratospheric temperature trend from the SSU measurements in the three different bands, where negative trend indicated cooling.

Channel	Start	End Date	STAR v3.0 Global Trend (K/decade)^[27]
TMS	1978-11	2017-01	−0.583
TUS	1978-11	2017-01	−0.649
TTS	1979-07	2017-01	−0.728

Microwave (tropospheric and stratospheric) measurements

Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) measurements

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File:Weighting Function.png

MSU weighting functions based upon the U.S. Standard Atmosphere.

From 1979 to 2005 the microwave sounding units (MSUs) and since 1998 the Advanced Microwave Sounding Units on NOAA polar orbiting weather satellites have measured the intensity of upwelling microwave radiation from atmospheric oxygen. The intensity is proportional to the temperature of broad vertical layers of the atmosphere. Upwelling radiance is measured at different frequencies; these different frequency bands sample a different weighted range of the atmosphere.^[28]

Figure 3 (right) shows the atmospheric levels sampled by different wavelength reconstructions from the satellite measurements, where TLS, TTS, and TTT represent three different wavelengths.

Other microwave measurements

A different technique is used by the Aura spacecraft, the Microwave Limb Sounder, which measure microwave emission horizontally, rather than aiming at the nadir.^[7]

Temperature measurements are also made by GPS radio occultation.^[29] This technique measures the refraction of the radio waves transmitted by GPS satellites as they propagate in the Earth's atmosphere, thus allowing vertical temperature and moisture profiles to be measured.

Temperature measurements on other planets

Planetary science missions also make temperature measurements on other planets and moons of the Solar System, using both infrared techniques (typical of orbiter and flyby missions of planets with solid surfaces) and microwave techniques (more often used for planets with atmospheres). Infrared temperature measurement instruments used in planetary missions include surface temperature measurements taken by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument on Mars Global Surveyor and the Diviner instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter;^[30] and atmospheric temperature measurements taken by the composite infrared spectrometer instrument on the NASA Cassini spacecraft.^[31]

Microwave atmospheric temperature measurement instruments include the Microwave Radiometer on the Juno mission to Jupiter.

References

Template:Reflist

External links

A graph comparing of the surface, balloon and satellite records Template:Webarchive (2007 archive)
Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere: Steps for Understanding and Reconciling Differences CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Product 1.1
What Microwaves Teach Us About the Atmosphere
Globally Averaged Atmospheric Temperatures

Template:Global warming

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↑ Harvey, Chelsea (18 April 2019). "It's A Match: Satellite and Ground Measurements Agree on Warming" Template:Webarchive, Scientific American. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
↑ Lilong Zhao et al. (2016). "Use of SSU/MSU Satellite Observations to Validate Upper Atmospheric Temperature Trends in CMIP5 Simulations Template:Webarchive", Remote Sens. 8(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8010013 Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 12 January 2019
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↑ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Moon: Surface Temperature Template:Webarchive, retrieved 9 January 2020.
↑ NASA/JPL/GSFC/Univ. Oxford (19 May 2011). Taking the Temperature of a Saturn Storm Template:Webarchive, retrieved 10 January 2020.

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[Schwartz2008-7] M. J. Schwartz et al., Validation of the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder temperature and geopotential height measurements Template:Webarchive, JGR: Atmospheres, Vol. 113, No. D15, 16 August 2008. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD008783 Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 9 January 2020.

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[Harvey_2019-18] Harvey, Chelsea (18 April 2019). "It's A Match: Satellite and Ground Measurements Agree on Warming" Template:Webarchive, Scientific American. Retrieved 8 January 2019.

[19] Lilong Zhao et al. (2016). "Use of SSU/MSU Satellite Observations to Validate Upper Atmospheric Temperature Trends in CMIP5 Simulations Template:Webarchive", Remote Sens. 8(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8010013 Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 12 January 2019

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[28] Remote Sensing Systems Template:Webarchive

[upper_air_temperature-29] Remote Sensing Systems, Upper Air Temperature Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 12 January 2020.

[30] National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Moon: Surface Temperature Template:Webarchive, retrieved 9 January 2020.

[31] NASA/JPL/GSFC/Univ. Oxford (19 May 2011). Taking the Temperature of a Saturn Storm Template:Webarchive, retrieved 10 January 2020.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Short description|Measurements of atmospheric, land surface or sea temperature by satellites.}}
+{{Short description|Type of Earth observation from space}}
 {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
 {{multiple image|align=right|direction=vertical|width=200|image1=Satellite Temperatures.png|caption1=Comparison of ground-based measurements of near-surface temperature (blue) and satellite based records of mid-tropospheric temperature (red: [[UAH satellite temperature dataset|UAH]]; green: [[Remote Sensing Systems|RSS]]) from 1979 to 2010. Trends plotted 1982-2010.|image2=RSS_troposphere_stratosphere_trend.png|caption2=Atmospheric temperature trends from 1979-2016 based on satellite measurements; troposphere above, stratosphere below.}}
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 [[Weather satellite]]s do not measure temperature directly. They measure [[radiance]]s in various [[wavelength]] bands. Since 1978 [[microwave sounding unit]]s (MSUs) on [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] [[polar orbit]]ing satellites have measured the intensity of upwelling microwave radiation from atmospheric [[oxygen]], which is related to the temperature of broad vertical layers of the atmosphere. Measurements of [[infrared]] radiation pertaining to sea surface temperature have been collected since 1967.
-Satellite datasets show that over the past four decades the [[troposphere]] has warmed and the [[stratosphere]] has cooled. Both of these trends are consistent with the influence of increasing atmospheric concentrations of [[greenhouse gases]].
+Satellite datasets show that over the past four decades{{Clarify timeframe|date=July 2025}} the [[troposphere]] has warmed and the [[stratosphere]] has cooled. Both of these trends are consistent with the influence of increasing atmospheric concentrations of [[greenhouse gases]].
 ==Principles==
@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 Weather satellites have been available to infer [[sea surface temperature]] (SST) information since 1967, with the first global composites occurring during 1970.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1175/1520-0493(1972)100<0010:GSTDDF>2.3.CO;2 |title=Global Sea-Surface Temperature Distribution Determined from an Environmental Satellite |journal=Monthly Weather Review |volume=100 |issue=1 |pages=10–4 |year=1972 |last1=Krishna Rao |first1=P. |last2=Smith |first2=W. L. |last3=Koffler |first3=R. |bibcode=1972MWRv..100...10K |s2cid=119900067 }}</ref> Since 1982,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qzYrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA2|page=2|author=National Research Council (U.S.). NII 2000 Steering Committee|title=The unpredictable certainty: information infrastructure through 2000; white papers|publisher=National Academies|year=1997|isbn=9780309060363|access-date=25 September 2016|archive-date=8 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308133745/https://books.google.com/books?id=qzYrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA2|url-status=live}}</ref> [[satellite]]s have been increasingly utilized to measure SST and have allowed its [[Spatial variability|spatial]] and [[time|temporal]] variation to be viewed more fully. For example, changes in SST monitored via satellite have been used to document the progression of the [[El Niño–Southern Oscillation|El Niño-Southern Oscillation]] since the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-UbmSxLWlUC&pg=PA31|page=31|title=Climate variability and the global harvest: impacts of El Niño and other oscillations on agroecosystems|author1=Cynthia Rosenzweig|author2=Daniel Hillel|year=2008|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] United States|isbn=978-0-19-513763-7|access-date=25 September 2016|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818210325/https://books.google.com/books?id=8-UbmSxLWlUC&pg=PA31|url-status=live}}</ref>
-Over land the retrieval of temperature from radiances is harder, because of inhomogeneities in the surface.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1175/BAMS-85-4-587 |title=Analysis of Land Skin Temperature Using AVHRR Observations |journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=587–600 |year=2004 |last1=Jin |first1=Menglin |bibcode=2004BAMS...85..587J |s2cid=8868968 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Studies have been conducted on the [[urban heat island]] effect via satellite imagery.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.asprs.org/a/publications/pers/2003journal/may/2003_may_555-566.pdf |title=Fractal Analysis of Satellite-Detected Urban Heat Island Effect |first1=Qihao |last1=Weng |date=May 2003 |pages=555–66 |journal=Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing |volume=69 |issue=5 |access-date=14 January 2011 |doi=10.14358/PERS.69.5.555 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231227/http://www.asprs.org/a/publications/pers/2003journal/may/2003_may_555-566.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> By using the fractal technique, [[Qihao Weng|Weng, Q]]. et al. characterized the spatial pattern of urban heat island.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Weng |first1=Qihao |last2=Lu |first2=Dengsheng |last3=Schubring |first3=Jacquelyn |date=2004-02-29 |title=Estimation of land surface temperature–vegetation abundance relationship for urban heat island studies |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034425703003390 |journal=Remote Sensing of Environment |language=en |volume=89 |issue=4 |pages=467–483 |doi=10.1016/j.rse.2003.11.005 |bibcode=2004RSEnv..89..467W |s2cid=2502717 |issn=0034-4257|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Use of [[Advanced very-high-resolution radiometer|advanced very high resolution infrared satellite imagery]] can be used, in the absence of cloudiness, to detect [[density]] discontinuities ([[weather front]]s) such as [[cold front]]s at ground level.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/sfc/UASfcManualVersion1.pdf|title=Unified Surface Analysis Manual|author=David M. Roth|publisher=[[Hydrometeorological Prediction Center]]|date=14 December 2006|access-date=14 January 2011|page=19|author-link=David M. Roth|archive-date=29 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929004553/http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/sfc/UASfcManualVersion1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Using the [[Dvorak technique]], infrared satellite imagery can be used to determine the temperature difference between the [[eye (cyclone)|eye]] and the [[cloud]] top temperature of the [[central dense overcast]] of mature tropical cyclones to estimate their [[maximum sustained wind]]s and their minimum central [[Atmospheric pressure|pressures]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Chris Landsea|date=8 June 2010|url=http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/H1.html|title=Subject: H1) What is the Dvorak technique and how is it used?|publisher=[[Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory]]|access-date=14 January 2011|author-link=Chris Landsea|archive-date=25 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125190925/http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/H1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
+Over land the retrieval of temperature from radiances is harder, because of inhomogeneities in the surface.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1175/BAMS-85-4-587 |title=Analysis of Land Skin Temperature Using AVHRR Observations |journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=587–600 |year=2004 |last1=Jin |first1=Menglin |bibcode=2004BAMS...85..587J |s2cid=8868968 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Studies have been conducted on the [[urban heat island]] effect via satellite imagery.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.asprs.org/a/publications/pers/2003journal/may/2003_may_555-566.pdf |title=Fractal Analysis of Satellite-Detected Urban Heat Island Effect |first1=Qihao |last1=Weng |date=May 2003 |pages=555–66 |journal=Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing |volume=69 |issue=5 |access-date=14 January 2011 |doi=10.14358/PERS.69.5.555 |bibcode=2003PgERS..69..555W |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231227/http://www.asprs.org/a/publications/pers/2003journal/may/2003_may_555-566.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> By using the fractal technique, [[Qihao Weng|Weng, Q]]. et al. characterized the spatial pattern of urban heat island.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Weng |first1=Qihao |last2=Lu |first2=Dengsheng |last3=Schubring |first3=Jacquelyn |date=2004-02-29 |title=Estimation of land surface temperature–vegetation abundance relationship for urban heat island studies |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034425703003390 |journal=Remote Sensing of Environment |language=en |volume=89 |issue=4 |pages=467–483 |doi=10.1016/j.rse.2003.11.005 |bibcode=2004RSEnv..89..467W |s2cid=2502717 |issn=0034-4257|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Use of [[Advanced very-high-resolution radiometer|advanced very high resolution infrared satellite imagery]] can be used, in the absence of cloudiness, to detect [[density]] discontinuities ([[weather front]]s) such as [[cold front]]s at ground level.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/sfc/UASfcManualVersion1.pdf|title=Unified Surface Analysis Manual|author=David M. Roth|publisher=[[Hydrometeorological Prediction Center]]|date=14 December 2006|access-date=14 January 2011|page=19|author-link=David M. Roth|archive-date=29 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929004553/http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/sfc/UASfcManualVersion1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Using the [[Dvorak technique]], infrared satellite imagery can be used to determine the temperature difference between the [[eye (cyclone)|eye]] and the [[cloud]] top temperature of the [[central dense overcast]] of mature tropical cyclones to estimate their [[maximum sustained wind]]s and their minimum central [[Atmospheric pressure|pressures]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Chris Landsea|date=8 June 2010|url=http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/H1.html|title=Subject: H1) What is the Dvorak technique and how is it used?|publisher=[[Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory]]|access-date=14 January 2011|author-link=Chris Landsea|archive-date=25 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125190925/http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/H1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
 [[AATSR|Along Track Scanning Radiometers]] aboard weather satellites are able to detect wildfires, which show up at night as pixels with a greater temperature than {{convert|308|K|C F}}.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Greece Suffers More Fires In 2007 Than In Last Decade, Satellites Reveal |publisher=[[European Space Agency]] |date=29 August 2007 |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Envisat/Greece_suffers_more_fires_in_2007_than_in_last_decade_satellites_reveal |access-date=26 April 2015 |archive-date=21 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210221062604/http://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Envisat/Greece_suffers_more_fires_in_2007_than_in_last_decade_satellites_reveal |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer|Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer]] aboard the [[Terra (satellite)|Terra satellite]] can detect thermal hot spots associated with wildfires, volcanoes, and industrial hot spots.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0034-4257(02)00030-5 |title=Automated volcanic eruption detection using MODIS |journal=Remote Sensing of Environment |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=135–55 |year=2002 |last1=Wright |first1=Robert |last2=Flynn |first2=Luke |last3=Garbeil |first3=Harold |last4=Harris |first4=Andrew |last5=Pilger |first5=Eric |bibcode=2002RSEnv..82..135W |url=http://www.higp.hawaii.edu/~wright/rse82.pdf |citeseerx=10.1.1.524.19 |access-date=5 January 2018 |archive-date=9 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809054442/https://www.higp.hawaii.edu/~wright/rse82.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 Since 1979 the Stratospheric sounding units (SSUs) on the NOAA operational satellites have provided near global stratospheric temperature data above the lower stratosphere.
-The SSU is a [[Far infrared|far-infrared]] spectrometer employing a pressure modulation technique to make measurement in three channels in the 15 μm carbon dioxide absorption band. The three channels use the same frequency but different carbon dioxide cell pressure, the corresponding weighting functions peaks at 29&nbsp;km for channel 1, 37&nbsp;km for channel 2 and 45&nbsp;km for channel 3.<ref>http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/pod-guide/ncdc/docs/podug/html/c4/sec4-2.htm{{full citation needed|date=April 2015}}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=|date=May 2020}}
+The SSU is a [[Far infrared|far-infrared]] spectrometer employing a pressure modulation technique to make measurement in three channels in the 15 μm carbon dioxide absorption band. The three channels use the same frequency but different carbon dioxide cell pressure, the corresponding weighting functions peaks at 29&nbsp;km for channel 1, 37&nbsp;km for channel 2 and 45&nbsp;km for channel 3.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/pod-guide/ncdc/docs/podug/html/c4/sec4-2.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=15 February 2012 |archive-date=22 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922144009/http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/pod-guide/ncdc/docs/podug/html/c4/sec4-2.htm |url-status=dead }}{{full citation needed|date=April 2015}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=|date=May 2020}}
 The process of deriving trends from SSUs measurement has proved particularly difficult because of satellite drift, inter-calibration between different satellites with scant overlap and gas leaks in the instrument carbon dioxide pressure cells. Furthermore since the radiances measured by SSUs are due to emission by [[carbon dioxide]] the weighting functions move to higher altitudes as the carbon dioxide concentration in the stratosphere increase.
@@ Line 109: / Line 109: @@
 ==External links==
-*[http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadat/images/update_images/tropical_upper_air.png A graph comparing of the surface, balloon and satellite records] [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928025821/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/CR_data/Monthly/upper_air_temps.gif (2007 archive)]
+*[http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadat/images/update_images/tropical_upper_air.png A graph comparing of the surface, balloon and satellite records] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810202749/http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadat/images/update_images/tropical_upper_air.png |date=10 August 2009 }} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928025821/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/CR_data/Monthly/upper_air_temps.gif (2007 archive)]
 *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070203081058/http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap1-1/finalreport/default.htm Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere: Steps for Understanding and Reconciling Differences] CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Product 1.1
 *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060222024828/http://www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/overview/microwave.html What Microwaves Teach Us About the Atmosphere]

Satellite temperature measurement: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 04:58, 23 September 2025

Contents

Principles

Infrared measurements

Surface measurements

Stratosphere measurements

Microwave (tropospheric and stratospheric) measurements

Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) measurements

Other microwave measurements

Temperature measurements on other planets

See also

References

External links

Navigation menu

Satellite temperature measurement: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 04:58, 23 September 2025

Principles

Infrared measurements

Surface measurements

Stratosphere measurements

Microwave (tropospheric and stratospheric) measurements

Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) measurements

Other microwave measurements

Temperature measurements on other planets

See also

References

External links

Navigation menu

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