Retrieval of Cloud, Atmospheric, and Surface Properties from Far-Infrared Spectral Radiances Measured by FIRMOS-B During the 2022 HEMERA Stratospheric Balloon Campaign

Retrieval of Cloud, Atmospheric, and Surface Properties from Far-Infrared Spectral Radiances Measured by FIRMOS-B During the 2022 HEMERA Stratospheric Balloon Campaign

The knowledge of the radiative properties of clouds and the atmospheric state is of fundamental importance in modelling phenomena in numerical weather predictions and climate models. In this study, we show the results of the retrieval of cloud properties, along with the atmospheric state and the sur...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gianluca Di Natale, Claudio Belotti, Marco Barucci, Marco Ridolfi, Silvia Viciani, Francesco D’Amato, Samuele Del Bianco, Bianca Maria Dinelli, Luca Palchetti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Fourier Transform Spectrometer
far infrared
atmospheric retrieval
cloud properties
stratospheric balloon
ESA-FORUM
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/14/2458
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The knowledge of the radiative properties of clouds and the atmospheric state is of fundamental importance in modelling phenomena in numerical weather predictions and climate models. In this study, we show the results of the retrieval of cloud properties, along with the atmospheric state and the surface temperature, from far-infrared spectral radiances, in the 100–1000 cm<sup>−1</sup> range, measured by the Far-Infrared Radiation Mobile Observation System-Balloon version (FIRMOS-B) spectroradiometer from a stratospheric balloon launched from Timmins (Canada) in August 2022 within the HEMERA 3 programme. The retrieval study is performed with the Optimal Estimation inversion approach, using three different forward models and retrieval codes to compare the results. Cloud optical depth, particle effective size, and cloud top height are retrieved with good accuracy, despite the relatively high measurement noise of the FIRMOS-B observations used for this study. The retrieved atmospheric profiles, computed simultaneously with cloud parameters, are in good agreement with both co-located radiosonde measurements and ERA-5 profiles, under all-sky conditions. The findings are very promising for the development of an optimised retrieval procedure to analyse the high-precision FIR spectral measurements, which will be delivered by the ESA FORUM mission.
ISSN:2072-4292

Similar Items