A polarized microwave radiative transfer model for passive remote sensing

The objective of the present work is to develop a general purpose, polarized, microwave radiative transfer forward model, including calculation of interaction parameters for fast, simultaneous and accurate generation of radiances, for use in a wide variety of atmospheric retrieval applications. This complete polarized model includes the generation of atmospheric profiles, calculation of the interaction parameters and the solution of the vector radiative transfer equations. In the present work, the doubling and adding method is used to calculate radiances. Mie theory is used for spherical particles to evaluate the polarized scattering matrix. Two types of sea surface models applicable for specular and diffuse surfaces respectively are implemented. The model has been validated against standard benchmark cases and experimental data available in literature. While the model is itself generic, parametric studies are performed to study the influence of the vertical structure of the atmosphere, for two polarizations and a set of frequencies to be used on the microwave imager aboard the proposed Indo-French climate research satellite MEGHA-TROPIQUES.