Abstract

The retrieval of temperature and molecular trace gas profiles from spectral radiance data is an important but complex problem in optimization. In this presentation we are concerned with profile retrievals along the radiating path, examples of which include zenith remote sensing from the surface and nadir remote sensing from space. The latter application is of particular interest in the context of obtaining global maps of trace molecular species using high resolution spectral radiance data from spectrometers orbiting in space. The retrieval method to be explored is the method of non-linear least squares in which the state parameters are optimized to obtain the minimum variance of the spectral residuals, Rodgers (1976) and Clough et al. (1990,1991). The residuals are defined as the spectral differences between the measurement and the calculated result from an appropriate forward radiative transfer model. In the present case we are concerned with high resolution so that the objective of the retrieval process is to obtain for a given spatial resolution, the most probable profile values for the state parameter of interest.

© 1993 Optical Society of America