HR: 1340h
AN: A33B-0907    [Abstracts]
TI: Long Term Comparison of AMSR-E Retrievals and Ship Based Measurements of Total Water Vapor in the Caribbean Sea
AU: * Szczodrak, M
EM: goshka@rsmas.miami.edu
AF: University of Miami, RSMAS, 4600 Rickenbacker Csy, Miami, FL 33149 United States
AU: Minnett, P J
EM: pminnett@rsmas.miami.edu
AF: University of Miami, RSMAS, 4600 Rickenbacker Csy, Miami, FL 33149 United States
AU: Gentemann, C
EM: gentemann@remss.com
AF: University of Miami, RSMAS, 4600 Rickenbacker Csy, Miami, FL 33149 United States
AU: Gentemann, C
EM: gentemann@remss.com
AF: Remote Sensing Systems Inc, 438 FIRST STREET, Santa Rosa, CA 95401 United States
AB: The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) was launched on May 4, 2002, aboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft. AMSR-E provides measurements of the total atmospheric water vapor column (TWV) over the oceans. A number of other important geophysical parameters are also measured: sea surface temperature (SST), wind speed, atmospheric water vapor, cloud water, and rain rate. A key feature of AMSR-E is its insensitivity to non-precipitating clouds, thereby providing nearly uninterrupted measurements of global water vapor, SST and surface wind fields. Since January 2001 the University of Miami has operated the Ocean Lab on the RCCL Explorer of the Seas that sails weekly tracks in the Caribbean Sea. The Ocean Lab instrumentation suite includes a Radiometrics Corporation WVR-1100 microwave radiometer installed in July 2002 and measuring the total atmospheric water vapor. Vaisala radiosondes have been launched from the ship, typically twice a day at time coincident with Aqua overpasses. This work compares measurements of the total water vapor from space-based AMSR-E and the ship-based microwave radiometer and the radiosondes over a 3 year period from July 2002 to July 2005.
DE: 0300 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE
DE: 0394 Instruments and techniques
DE: 3360 Remote sensing
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005