Abstract

A new algorithm, developed by Jedlovec (1987), is examined which uses Visible Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) 11 and 12 μm (split window) data to derive precipitable water (PW) at mesoscale resolution. The algorithm is physically based and derives its first guess information from radiosonde data. It has several advantages: 1) it can be applied to multispectral imaging (MSI) data, which are available half hourly, 2) it uses only limited spatial averaging, and 3) it can be applied to instruments which lack sounding channels (e.g., GOES-Next imager).

© 1991 Optical Society of America