Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Zuiderweg, Adriaan Tiemen
URN	etd-04062006-191417
Title	Microwave Radiative Transfer Modeling of Ice in the Atmophere: A Critical Examination of Cloud Ice Utilizing Remote Sensing
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Meteorology, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Guosheng Liu Committee Chair Kwang-Yul Kim Committee Member Paul Ruscher Committee Member
Keywords	Crystal Ice Atmosphere Microwave Radiative Transfer IWP Radar Satellite
Date of Defense	2006-03-20
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Tropospheric cloud ice has a significant impact on the earth’s radiative balance and climate, and to help improve the ability to forecast short-term through climatological-scale weather, the importance of quantification of these ice particles is not to be underestimated. To that end, the study presented here describes an attempt to accomplish large spatial-scale integrated ice water quantity (known as ice water path) retrieval via remote sensing in the microwave band (80-300GHz), where effects from ice crystals become detectable via scattering of terrestrial radiation. At the heart of this study is the use of a radiative transfer model in conjunction with data from surface-based instrumentation to simulate atmospheric brightness temperatures at microwave frequencies, and to compare the simulated results to observational data from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit - B instrument on the NOAA-15 polar orbiting platform. However, this cannot be done without first discussing the nature of ice crystals in the atmosphere and the scattering modes that result from their interaction with energy, and the implementation of approximations thereof for model usage. Case studies are performed using the model to establish the sensitivity and behavior of the model under differing conditions, and these are compared to real-world data. Subsequently ice water path retrieval from satellite data utilizing Bayesian theory is attempted, with somewhat limited success, and the results hereof are discussed. Finally, known error sources are examined with possibilities for improvement, and ideas for future work in the field presented.
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