An investigation of the Ground-Based High-Resolution Interferometer Sounder (GB-HIS) in a coastal marine environment.

Abstract

Vertical temperature and moisture profiles from the Ground-Based High-Resolution Interferometer Sounder (GB-HIS) are studied for the coastal marine atmosphere. In May of 1991 and 1992 the GB-HIS instrument was operated on the Research Vessel Point Sur during a cruise off the central California coast. The ability of the GB-HIS retrieval algorithm to produce accurate temperature and moisture profiles is evaluated using Root Mean Square (RMS) difference, Bias, and Explained Variance statistics. In addition, objective analysis is performed on timesections of temperature and moisture. Temperature retrievals, on average, attained significant skill throughout the low troposphere. Moisture retrievals attained moderate skill in the lower and upper boundary layer, but no skill in the mid-boundary layer due to non-depiction of small scale moisture features. Results showed a maximum RMS temperature difference of < 3 °C and RMS dewpoint difference of < 12 °C in the low troposphere (up to 700 mb) over both cruises. Preliminary analysis of the updated retrieval algorithm is performed and further improvements are discussed.