HIRS-Derived Temperature and Humidity Profiles and Comparisons with Radiosonde Observations and GPS RO Derived Profiles

Temperature and humidity profiles are derived based on polar orbiting satellites' High-resolution Infrared Sounder (HIRS) data. Global HIRS observations from more than a dozen satellites during the 1979-2013 time period are inter-calibrated to a base satellite to form a temporally homogeneous time series. A retrieval scheme is designed using a neural network technique to derive temperature profiles at standard pressure levels from the surface to lower stratosphere and humidity profiles from the surface to upper troposphere. The derived HIRS temperature and humidity profiles are compared to global radiosonde observations and profiles derived by Global Positioning System Radio Occultation (GPS RO), respectively. The results of the comparisons will be presented.