| Summary: | <p> Ultra-spectrometers with a spectral resolution better than 1 cm<sub>-1</sub>, such as AIRS on the AQUA, IASI on the Metop-A/B, and CrIS on the Suomi-NPP, have become operational during the past decade. The radiance spectra measured by these satellite-borne spectrometers provide soundings of the atmosphere with relatively high vertical resolution and high accuracy except for the lower atmosphere. Meanwhile, many ground-based ultra-spectrometers based on the Michelson Interferometer have been incorporated into the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement facilities and aboard NOAA research vessels. These instruments provide temperature and water vapor soundings within the planetary boundary layer continuously with very high vertical resolution. This dissertation develops a retrieval procedure which can combine the radiance measured by ground-based spectrometers and coincident observation from satellite-borne instruments to improve retrieval results throughout the lower atmosphere. </p><p> To verify the feasibility and improved accuracy of the combined retrieval, 90 clear sky cases from four in-situ radiosonde measurement locations or geographical regions, were selected for this study. Each region consists of radiosonde measurements of temperature and water vapor, downwelling radiance spectra measured at approximately the balloon launch time, and upwelling radiance observation by IASI at the location and time coincident with the surface radiance and radiosonde measurements. </p><p> These cases indicate, that when compared with the retrieval from upwelling radiance or downwelling radiance spectra only, there is a significant improvement of the retrieval using combined upwelling and downwelling radiance spectra is observed. At altitude below the 800 hPa pressure level, the errors using the combined retrieval are about 0.5 – 1 K in temperature, and 20 – 40 % for water vapor mixing ratio. These errors are approximately one-third the magnitude of errors for the sounding retrieval obtained using satellite upwelling radiance alone.</p>
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