Журнал

About Editorial Board Information for authors and reviewers Publication ethics Contacts User Account: send / review a manuscript
Archive
Volume 23, 2026
Number 1
Volume 22, 2025
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 21, 2024
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 20, 2023
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 19, 2022
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 18, 2021
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 17, 2020
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6 Number 7
Volume 16, 2019
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 15, 2018
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6 Number 7
Volume 14, 2017
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6 Number 7
Volume 13, 2016
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 12, 2015
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5 Number 6
Volume 11, 2014
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4
Volume 10, 2013
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4
Volume 9, 2012
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5
Volume 8, 2011
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4
Volume 7, 2010
Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4
Issue 6, 2009
Volume 1 Volume 2
Issue 5, 2008
Volume 1 Volume 2
Issue 4, 2007
Volume 1 Volume 2
Issue 3, 2006
Volume 1 Volume 2
Issue 2, 2005
Volume 1 Volume 2
Issue 1, 2004
Volume 1
Search
Find:
русский
ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2026, V. 23, No. 1, pp. 87-99

Comparison of microwave radiometric measurements of descending radiation from cloudless atmosphere in the range of 18–27.2 GHz with model calculations based on radiosonde data

A.B. Akvilonova 1 , M.T. Smirnov 1 , B.G. Kutuza 2 
1 Kotelnikov Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics RAS, Fryazino Branch, Fryazino, Moscow Region, Russia
2 Kotelnikov Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics RAS, Moscow, Russia
Accepted: 08.12.2025
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2026-23-1-87-99
The results of ground-based spectral microwave radiometric measurements of cloudless atmospheric radiation in the area of the water vapor absorption line are compared with brightness temperatures calculated from radiosonde data from the nearest weather station. The measurements were carried out using P22M microwave radiometer-spectrometer in the range of 18.0–27.2 GHz on the territory of V. A. Kotelnikov Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics RAS, Fryazino Branch. The radiosonde data from the nearest Dolgoprudnaya weather station, located at a distance of about 40 km from Fryazino, were used. The analysis showed that the coincidence/discrepancy between experimental and radiosonde data depends on the direction of airflow both at the site of microwave radiometric measurements and at the launch site of radiosondes. The best match is observed in a stable anticyclonal situation. The average deviations between the calculated and experimental data for 2023 and 2024 are obtained. The largest discrepancies between experimental and calculated data are observed on the low-frequency slope of the line. The possible causes of this difference are analyzed, such as calibration errors and errors in the models used, as well as synoptic situation and direction of movement of air masses. The measurement results are compared with calculations based on three radiation models. It is shown that they all give different results depending on the specific profiles of temperature and humidity of the atmosphere.
Keywords: microwave radiometry, radio brightness temperature, atmospheric humidity
Full text

References:

  1. Akvilonova A. B., Egorov D. P., Kutuza B. G., Smirnov M. T., Study of cloudy atmosphere characteristics based on the results of measuring its downwelling microwave radiation spectra in the water vapor resonant absorption band 18.0–27.2 GHz, Meteorologiya i gidrologiya, 2022, No. 12, pp. 66–77 (in Russian), DOI: 10.52002/0130-2906-2022-12-66-77.
  2. Berezin I. A., Timofeyev Y. M., Virolainen Y. A. et al., Comparison of ground-based microwave measurements of precipitable water vapor with radiosounding data, Atmospheric and Oceanic Optics, 2016, V. 29, No. 3, pp. 274–281, DOI: 10.1134/S1024856016030040.
  3. Bykov V. Yu., Ilyin G. N., Karavaev D. M., Shchukin G. G., Microwave radiometric measurements of vapor and liquid droplet moisture content in the troposphere, Trudy Voenno-kosmicheskoi akademii imeni A. F. Mozhajskogo, 2020, Iss. 567, pp. 128–132 (in Russian).
  4. Gurvich A. S., Yershov A. T., Naumov A. P., Plechkov V. M., Investigation of atmospheric moisture content by ground-based radioteplocation, Meteorologiya i gidrologiya, 1972, No. 5, pp. 22–27 (in Russian).
  5. Karavaev D. M., Shchukin G. G., Status and prospects of application of microwave radiometry of the atmosphere, Atmospheric and Oceanic Optics, 2016, V. 29, No. 3, pp. 308–313, DOI: 10.1134/S1024856016030076.
  6. Kutuza B. G., Danilychev M. V., Yakovlev O. I., Sputnikovyi monitoring Zemli: mikrovolnovaya radiometriya atmosfery i poverkhnosti (Satellite monitoring of the Earth: Microwave radiometry of the atmosphere and surface), Moscow: LENAND, 2015, 336 p. (in Russian).
  7. Ostrovsky E. V., Fridzon M. B., Reliability and validity of determination of total moisture content by remote methods when compared with data from standard atmospheric radiosonde, Nauchnyi vestnik MGTU GA. Ser. Radiofizika i radiotekhnika, 2008, No. 133, pp. 40–44 (in Russian).
  8. Plechkov V. M., Correlation between radiometric and aerological data on water vapor content in the atmosphere, Fizika atmosfery i okeana, 1969, V. 5, No. 9, pp. 970–972 (in Russian).
  9. Plechkov V. M., Gurvich A. S., Snopkov V. G., Experimental studies of the integral content of water vapor over the ocean during radiometric measurements of atmospheric thermal radiation from a ship, Doklady Akademii nauk SSSR. Geofizika, 1970, V. 193, No. 5, pp. 1041–1043 (in Russian).
  10. Sazonov D. S., Sadovsky I. N., Pashinov E. V., Kuzmin A. V., Tipping calibration of radiometric receiver in natural conditions, Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2025, V. 22, No. 4, pp. 40–50 (in Russian), DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2025-22-4-40-50.
  11. Smirnov M. T., Savorsky V. P., Marechek S. V., Turygin S. Y., Spectral measurements of atmospheric radiothermal radiation in the range of 18–27 GHz, Materialy Vserossiiskoi nauchnoi konferentsii “7-e Vserossiiskie Armandovskie chteniya. Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya, radiolokatsii, rasprostraneniya i difraktsii voln (Materials All-Russian Scientific Conf. “7th All-Russian Armandov Readings. Current Problems of Remote Sensing, Radar, Wave Propagation and Diffraction”), Murom: Izd. Poligraficheskii tsentr MI VlGU, 2017, pp. 175–179 (in Russian).
  12. Fridzon M. B., Ermoshenko Yu. M., Radiosonding of the atmosphere, Mir izmerenii, 2009, No. 7, pp. 17–21 (in Russian).
  13. Askne J. I. H., Westwater E. R., A review of ground-based remote sensing of temperature and moisture by passive microwave radiometers, IEEE Trans. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 1986, V. GE-24, No. 3, pp. 340–352.
  14. Belikovich M. V., Makarov D. S., Serov E. A. et al., Validation of atmospheric absorption models within the 20–60 GHz band by simultaneous radiosonde and microwave observations: The advantage of using ECS formalism, Remote Sensing, 2022, V. 14, No. 23, Article 6042, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14236042.
  15. Cimini D., Westwater E. R., Han Y., Keihm S., Ground-based microwave radiometer measurements and radiosonde comparisons during the WVIOP2000 field experiment, 12 th ARM Science Team Meeting Proc., Saint Petersburg, Florida, 2002, 9 p.
  16. Cimini D., Westwater E. R., Han Y., Keihm S. J., Accuracy of ground-based microwave radiometer and balloon-borne measurements during the WVIOP2000 field experiment, IEEE Trans. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2003, V. 41, No. 11, pp. 2605–2615, DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2003.815673.
  17. Liebe H. J., MPM — An atmospheric millimeter-wave propagation model, Intern. J. Infrared and Millimeter Waves, 1989, V. 10, P. 631–650, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01009565.
  18. Skoog B. G., Askne J. I. H., Elgered G., Experimental determination of water vapor profiles from ground-based radiometer measurements at 21.0 and 31.4 GHz, J. Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 1982, V. 21, Iss. 3, pp. 394–400, DOI: 10.1175/1520-0450(1982)021<0394:EDOWVP>2.0.CO;2.
  19. Larosa S., Cimini D., Gallucci D. et al., PyRTlib: an educational Python-based library for non-scattering atmospheric microwave radiative transfer computations, Geoscientific Model Development, 2024, V. 17, Iss. 5, pp. 2053–2076, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2053-2024.
  20. Xu G., Xi B., Zhang W. et al., Comparison of atmospheric profiles between microwave radiometer retrievals and radiosonde soundings, J. Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2015, V. 120, Iss. 19, pp. 10313–10323, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023438.