A study on detecting water vapor profile using ground based microwave radiometer and cloud radar

This paper presents a case study on measuring water vapor profile using a combination of ground-based microwave radiometer and cloud radar. The correlation of water vapor density measured by radiosonde and twelve brightness temperatures observed by microwave radiometer were analyzed to select appropriate channels for retrieving water vapor density. Then, a retrieval algorithms of water vapor density for non-precipitating atmosphere was developed using radar reflectivity measured by cloud radar and selected brightness temperatures. In addition, the potential of the combination for improving the accuracy of water vapor density for rainy atmosphere was also analyzed. The study results indicate that the combination of ground-based microwave radiometer and cloud radar is potential for improving the accuracy of vertical profiles of water vapor density in rainy condition.