Application and evaluation of a differential inversion technique for remote temperature sensing

A new theoretical approach is developed for remote temperature sensing based on application of Laplace transform techniques to the radiative transfer equation. This approach allows calculation of the atmospheric temperature profile from measurements of the upwelling radiance and its derivatives. Atmospheric temperatures are obtained by this technique without the use of any a priori temperature information. This technique is applied to both synthetic data for detailed numerical study, and to measurements of the upwelling radiance taken with the Tiros Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS). Limitations arising from experimental errors, truncation errors, round-off, numerical errors, and instability of numerical Laplace transformation are discussed.