The effects of surface reflection on estimating the vertical temperature-humidity distribution from spectral infrared measurements

To improve the accuracy of vertical profiles of temperature and moisture retrieved from infrared spectral measurements, the surface emissivity must be accounted for in the solution of the inverse problem (based upon the radiative transfer equation). A model that accounts for the emission and reflection on the lower atmospheric boundary and an algorithm of solution are presented. Results using spectral measurements from an airborne radiometer over land surfaces are discussed. The solution of the inverse problem includes the surface emissivity, the surface temperature, and the vertical temperature-humidity profile. It is shown that accounting for the surface emissivity in the solution of the inverse problem substantially and positively changes the meteorological profiles.