The forward problem and corrections for the SSM/T satellite microwave temperature sounder

The relationship between atmospheric temperatures and the brightness temperatures measured by the Special Sensor Microwave/Temperature (SSM/T) radiometer is addressed. Physical algorithms for retrieving temperature profiles explicitly employ the physics of radiative transfer. Consequently, it is necessary to do the forward problem accurately before attempting the retrieval problem. The various problems that arise in doing forward calculations over oceans are discussed. These problems include determining when the measurements are cloud contaminated, the amount of liquid water in the fields of view, the surface emissivity under both clear and cloudy conditions, the corrections for liquid water contamination of the measurements, the adjustments for deficiencies in the radiative transfer model, and the compensation for measurement discrepancies by using shrinkage estimation. These procedures are developed for SSM/T data, and their validity is checked by comparing the forward calculations with the corresponding satellite measurements. Application of the procedures to an independent data set confirms their veracity