An Investigation of Atmospheric Water Vapor and Its Radiative Effects at the ARM North Slope of Alaska CART Site
Delamere, J.S., Clough, S.A., Mlawer, E.J., and Shephard, M.W., Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc.
Fourteenth Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Science Team Meeting
Water vapor significantly regulates radiative energy flow through the Earth’s atmosphere. Since its inception the ARM program has worked to develop improved parameterizations of water vapor radiative processes for use in general circulation models. This has required both improved measurements of the atmospheric water vapor column and water vapor spectroscopic parameters from which radiative fluxes are calculated. While great progress has been made in reconciling calculated and measured radiances and fluxes at the ARM Southern Great Plains site, the low integrated water vapor amounts above the ARM North Slope of Alaska site remain difficult to accurately measure by conventional water vapor radiometers. This poster presents preliminary results from an investigation aimed at simultaneously improving the specification of the atmospheric water vapor column and water vapor line parameters and continuum. Utilizing radiance measurements from the NSA extended-range Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (ER-AERI) and the accurate water vapor line parameters in the 1200-1500 cm-1 region, the atmospheric water vapor column can be retrieved. Using the retrieved atmospheric water vapor column, additional comparisons between radiance measurements and calculations in the important water vapor rotation band (< 600 cm-1) are examined, and the current water vapor line parameters and continuum validated and improved.
Note: This is the poster abstract presented at the meeting; an extended version was not provided by the author(s).
