Estimation of the ocean/atmosphere boundary layer height of water vapor from space

A new retrieval technique has been developed which resolves some of the vertical structure of lower tropospheric water vapor over oceans from space. The relationship is demonstrated by comparisons between direct measurements of the water vapor profile, by radiosondes, and coincident estimates of the horizontal turbulence structure of integrated water vapor, using the TOPEX Microwave Radiometer (TMR). Correlation is highest between the turbulence structure and the lower, boundary layer, component of the water vapor profile. The relationship is next applied to a two year time series of TMR data at Wake Island in the tropical Pacific. Both TMR and the Wake Island radiosondes indicate a periodic variation in the water vapor height which is consistent with the Madden and Julian Oscillation (MJO)