Retrieval of column water vapor amount from MODIS channels near 1 μm

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a major facility instrument for the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) to be launched in the summer of 1998. MODIS has 36 channels located in the spectral region between 0.41 and 14.3 μm. Most of these channels have heritage traceable to previous satellite instruments, such as NOAA AVHRR, HIRS, CZCS, and Landsat TM. However, several channels in the near-IR solar spectral region have been selected for the MODIS instrument based on observations from hyperspectral imaging data acquired with the NASA JPL Airborne Visible/infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) from an ER-2 aircraft at 20 km. Several near-IR channels located within and around the 0.94 μm water vapor absorption region are selected for remote sensing of integrated atmospheric water vapor over land. The authors describe the physical principles of remote sensing column atmospheric water vapor using near-IR channels within and around the 0.94 μm water vapor band from MODIS measurements