Estimation of Oceanic Total Precipitable Water from HALE UAV

In this study, the oceanic Total Precipitable Water (TPW) retrieval algorithm at 16 km altitude of High Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (HALE UAV) is described. Empirical equation based on Wentz method (1995) that uses the 18.7 and 22.235 GHz channels is developed using the simulated brightness temperature and SeeBor training dataset. To do radiative simulation, Satellite Data Simulator Unit (SDSU) Radiative Transfer Model (RTM) is used. The data of 60% (523) and 40% (349) in the SeeBor training dataset are used to develop and validate the TPW retrieval algorithm, respectively. The range of coefficients for the TPW retrieval at the altitude of 3~18 km with 3 km interval were 153.69~199.87 (${\alpha}$), 54.330~58.468 (${\beta}$), and 84.519~93.484 (${\gamma}$). The bias and RMSE at each altitude were found to be about $-0.81kg\;m^{-2}$ and $2.17kg\;m^{-2}$, respectively. Correlation coefficients were more than 0.9. Radiosonde observation has been generally operated over land. To validate the accuracy of the oceanic TPW retrieval algorithm, observation data from the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) Gisang 1 research vessel about six clear sky cases representing spring, autumn, and summer season is used. Difference between retrieved and observed TPW at 16 km altitude were in the range of $0.53{\sim}1.87kg\;m^{-2}$, which is reasonable for most applications. Difference in TPW between retrieval and observation at each altitude (3~15 km) is also presented. Differences of TPW at altitudes more than 6 km were $0.3{\sim}1.9kg\;m^{-2}$. Retrieved TPW at 3 km altitude was smaller than upper level with a difference of $-0.25{\sim}0.75kg\;m^{-2}$ compared to the observed TPW.

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