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Abstract
Abstract. Measurements of the spectrum of the atmospheric emission in the far-infrared (FIR) range, between 100 and 667 cm−1 (100–15 µm) are scarce because of the detection complexity and of the strong absorption of air at ground level preventing the sounding of the FIR from low altitude. Consequently, FIR measurements need to be made from high-altitude sites or on board airborne platforms or satellites. This paper describes the dataset of FIR spectral radiances of the atmosphere and snow surface emission measured in the 100–1000 cm−1 range by the Far-Infrared Radiation Mobile Observation System (FIRMOS) instrument during a 2-month campaign carried out from the ground at about 3000 m of altitude on the top of Mt. Zugspitze in the German Alps in 2018–2019. This campaign is part of the preparatory activity of a new space FIR mission, named Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM), which is under development by the European Space Agency (ESA). The dataset acquired during the campaign also includes all the additional measurements needed to provide a full characterisation of the observed atmospheric state and the local atmospheric and surface conditions. It includes co-located spectral measurements in the infrared range from 400 to 1800 cm−1; lidar backscatter profiles; radio soundings of temperature, humidity and aerosol backscatter profiles; local weather parameters; and snow/ice microphysical properties. These measurements provide a unique dataset that can be used to perform radiative closure experiments to improve modelling parameters in the FIR that are not well-characterised, such as water vapour spectroscopy, scattering properties of cirrus clouds, and the FIR emissivity of the surface covered by snow. The consolidated dataset is freely available via the ESA campaign dataset website at https://doi.org/10.5270/ESA-38034ee (Palchetti et al., 2020a).
Highlights
The far-infrared (FIR), defined here as the longest wavelength region of the infrared spectrum covering the wavenumber range from 667 cm−1 down to 100 cm−1 (100 μm), contains more than 50 % of the energy emitted by the Earth toward space
This paper describes the dataset of FIR spectral radiances of the atmosphere and snow surface emission measured in the 100–1000 cm−1 range by the Far-Infrared Radiation Mobile Observation System (FIRMOS) instrument during a 2-month campaign carried out from the ground at about 3000 m of altitude on the top of Mt
The balloon sondes are equipped with a standard radiosonde (RS; Vaisala RS41-SGP), a Cryogenic Frostpoint Hygrometer (CFH) for measuring water vapour profiles with high accuracy, an ozone sonde, and the Compact Optical Backscatter Aerosol Detector (COBALD) (Brabec et al, 2012), developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, that provides backscatter profiles at two wavelengths (940 and 455 nm)
Summary
The far-infrared (FIR), defined here as the longest wavelength region of the infrared spectrum covering the wavenumber range from 667 cm−1 (or equivalently 15 μm wavelength) down to 100 cm−1 (100 μm), contains more than 50 % of the energy emitted by the Earth toward space. Due to technical challenges, systematic and global measurements of the FIR from space are still missing and are scarce from ground and airborne platforms To fill this observational gap, a space mission, named Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) (Palchetti et al, 2020b), is under development by the European Space Agency (ESA) as the ninth Earth Explorer mission to be launched in 2026 This mission will measure with high accuracy the spectrum of the outgoing infrared radiation from 100 to 1600 cm−1 (100–6.25 μm) covering, for the first time with high spectral resolution, the FIR portion of the spectrum In preparation for this mission, an instrument demonstrator, named Far-Infrared Radiation Mobile Observation System (FIRMOS), was developed for field applications from ground-based (and in perspective airborne) platforms to verify with real measurements the sounding capability provided by FIR observations. Zugspitze in the south of Germany at about 3000 m altitude, together with all the ancillary measurements needed to provide a complete characterisation of the observed atmospheric and surface states
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