Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2009, Issue 6, Vol. 2, pp. 104-110
Comparative analysis of cloud upper border assessments obtained
by AVHRR NOAA and meteorological radar
Е.В. Волкова
, А.Б. Успенский
ГУ «Научно-исследовательский центр космической гидрометеорологии «Планета», 123242, Москва, Б. Предтеченский пер., д. 7
A threshold method of automatic pixel-by-pixel classification of AVHRR NOAA data makes it
possible to determine the real air temperature at the cloud upper border height due to an equation of the
AVHRR 4th band data corrections and to compute cloud upper border height for an individual pixel
regardless of cloud type. The corrections equation was derived empirically. Additionally the method uses
the data of air temperature and humidity vertical distribution. The method was adjusted and tested on the
satellite and ground meteorological data archived for the region 46.7-63.0°N, 26.0-43.7°E in 1998-2008.
Cloud upper border height assessments obtained show a good correlation with the average climatological
and WMO assessments as well as with meteorological radar measurements and can be used for
mesoscale cloud investigations.
Keywords: cloud upper border height, AVHRR NOAA, meteorological radar
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