The AERI is a vertical profiler device useful in remotely sampling the lower atmosphere (PBL) using algorithms to retrieve temperature and moisture, among other measurements, to convert spectral observations in a vertical profile. Because they use passive remote sensing, they enable much more frequent measurement of the vertical structure of the lower atmosphere than can be obtained using balloon soundings and at far less financial or manual cost than using large towers. One potential tradeoff is poorer resolution and perhaps slightly poorer measurement accuracy, but the measurements will still be worth assimilating into computer models, with the ultimate goal of improving forecasts of the PBL, especially as it pertains to convective events.
Read more at http://news.wisc.edu/new-uw-madison-project-funded-by-noaa-could-improve-weather-forecasting/ and links within.
Read more at http://news.wisc.edu/new-uw-madison-project-funded-by-noaa-could-improve-weather-forecasting/ and links within.