TY - JOUR
T1 - Water vapour continuum absorption in mid‐latitudes
T2 - Aircraft measurements and model comparisons
AU - Rudman, S. D.
AU - Saunders, R. W.
AU - Kilsby, C. G.
AU - Minnett, P. J.
PY - 1994/1/1
Y1 - 1994/1/1
N2 - Recently reported measurements by the Meteorological Research Flight C‐130 aircraft over the tropical Atlantic have shown that existing models of infrared water vapour continuum absorption underestimate its magnitude by up to 30%. This paper presents additional results from more recent measurements made close to the south‐west approaches of the British Isles and over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. These measurements are compared with two models: GENLN2, a line‐by‐line model, and the widely used band model LOWTRAN7. The measured radiances suggest a consistent underestimate in both models of the water vapour continuum absorption. The modified parametrization for the water vapour continuum absorption, inferred from the tropical results, was also used here to check its validity for lower water vapour amounts and lower temperatures. As with the tropical results, increasing the self‐broadening coefficient by a constant factor, or increasing the temperature dependence, improves the agreement between the measurements and the model predictions.
AB - Recently reported measurements by the Meteorological Research Flight C‐130 aircraft over the tropical Atlantic have shown that existing models of infrared water vapour continuum absorption underestimate its magnitude by up to 30%. This paper presents additional results from more recent measurements made close to the south‐west approaches of the British Isles and over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. These measurements are compared with two models: GENLN2, a line‐by‐line model, and the widely used band model LOWTRAN7. The measured radiances suggest a consistent underestimate in both models of the water vapour continuum absorption. The modified parametrization for the water vapour continuum absorption, inferred from the tropical results, was also used here to check its validity for lower water vapour amounts and lower temperatures. As with the tropical results, increasing the self‐broadening coefficient by a constant factor, or increasing the temperature dependence, improves the agreement between the measurements and the model predictions.
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U2 - 10.1002/qj.49712051803
DO - 10.1002/qj.49712051803
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0028572711
VL - 120
SP - 795
EP - 807
JO - Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
JF - Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
SN - 0035-9009
IS - 518
ER -