Abstract
Thermal infrared radiation is a convenient tool for cloud remote sensing. Infrared emissions from cloud tops are often considered to be a proxy of the temperature there (and hence of cloud top height) regardless of day or night. Infrared brightness temperature, however, is not always a reasonable substitute for the physical temperature of clouds and could be largely misinterpreted if analyzed without care. The chapter begins with the theory of non-scattering radiative transfer, followed by simulated infrared spectra to demonstrate the impacts of clouds on satellite measurements. The ultimate goal of this chapter is to present the utility and limitations of the satellite infrared measurements of cloud properties such as cloud top temperature, particle size, and thermodynamic phase.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Cloud optical depth, sometimes abbreviated as COD or COT (cloud optical thickness), is defined at an infrared wavelength throughout this chapter. A discussion on the wavelength dependence of cloud optical depth will be given in Sect. 8.3.2.
- 2.
The wavelength is slightly offset from 11 \(\upmu \)m in order to avoid a weak absorption feature at 11 \(\upmu \)m.
References
Ackerman SA, Smith WL, Revercomb HE, Spinhirne JD (1990) The 27–28 october 1986 FIRE IFO cirrus case study: spectral properties of cirrus clouds in the 8–12 \(\mu \)m window. Mon Wea Rev 118:2377–2388. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1990)118<2377:TOFICC>2.0.CO;2
Cooper SJ, Garrett TJ (2010) Identification of small ice cloud particles using passive radiometric observations. J Appl Meteor Climatol 49:2334–2347. https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JAMC2466.1
Heidinger AK, Pavolonis MJ (2009) Gazing at cirrus clouds for 25 years through a split window. Part i: Methodology. J Appl Meteor Climatol 48:1100–1116. https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JAMC1882.1
Inoue T (1985) On the temperature and effective emissivity determination of semi-transparent cirrus clouds by bi-spectral measurements in the 10 \(\mu \)m window region. J Meteor Soc Jpn 63:88–99
Menzel WP, Smith WL, Stewart TR (1983) Improved cloud motion wind vector and altitude assignment using VAS. J Climate Appl Meteor 22:377–384. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1983)022<0377:ICMWVA>2.0.CO;2
Platnick S, King M, Ackerman S, Menzel W, Baum B, Riedi J, Frey R (2003) The MODIS cloud products: algorithms and examples from Terra. IEEE Trans Geosc Remote Sens 41:459–473. https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2002.808301
Prabhakara C, Fraser RS, Dalu G, Wu MC, Curran RJ, Styles T (1988) Thin cirrus clouds: Seasonal distribution over oceans deduced from Nimbus-4 IRIS. J Appl Meteor 27:379–399. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1988)027<0379:TCCSDO>2.0.CO;2
Strabala KI, Ackerman SA, Menzel WP (1994) Cloud properties inferred from 8–12-\(\mu \)m data. J Appl Meteor 33:212–229. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1994)033<0212:CPIFD>2.0.CO;2
Wu MLC (1987) A method for remote sensing the emissivity, fractional cloud cover and cloud top temperature of high-level, thin clouds. J Climate Appl Meteor 26:225–233. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1987)026<0225:AMFRST>2.0.CO;2
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Masunaga, H. (2022). Infrared Sensing. In: Satellite Measurements of Clouds and Precipitation. Springer Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2243-5_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2243-5_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-2242-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-2243-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)