INFRARED SATELLITE RETRIEVALS IN THE PRESENCE OF STRATOSPHERIC AEROSOL

The presence of stratospheric aerosol can bias the results of infrared satellite retrievals of sea surface temperature (SST) and total preci pitable water (TPW) In the case of linear SST retrieval using the Alon g Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR), on the ESA European remote-sensing satellites, constant coefficients can be found that give negligible b ias (less than 0.1 K) over a nide range of aerosol amount (11-mu m opt ical thickness from 0.0 to 0.022). For TPW retrieval, in contrast, the biases associated with stratospheric aerosol are less satisfactory (2 kg m(-2) or greater across a range of 11-mu m optical thickness of 0. 0-0.01). However, the authors show how to find optimal aerosol-depende nt retrieval coefficients for any stratospheric aerosol distribution f rom knowledge of the mean and variance of that aerosol distribution. E xamples of SST and TPW retrieval using simulated ATSR brightness tempe rature data are given.