Retrieval of upper tropospheric relative humidity by the GMS-5 water vapor channel: A study of the technique

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of a technique for retrieving upper tropospheric relative humidity through the GMS-5 satellite’s 6.7-micron water vapor channel brightness temperature. NCEP analysis shows that a critical assumption of the retrieval theory, namely the constant temperature lapse rate, matches only in the tropical atmosphere. By statistical analyses of brightness temperature simulated by a radiative transfer model and of relative humidity, we examine the effect of lapse rate on this retrieval method and obtain retrieval parameters and error estimates applicable to the GMS-5 satellite over East Asia. If the retrieval parameters are properly chosen, the relative error of retrieving the upper tropospheric relative humidity in this region is less than 10%, and if applied to the low-latitude summer atmosphere, it is less than 5%.