Precipitable water column retrieval from GOME data

We investigate the retrieval of terrestrial precipitable water columns usin g a new spectral fitting method applied to Global Ozone Monitoring Experime nt (GOME) data. The method is an optical absorption spectroscopy technique and employs a new approach to the opacity sampling of absorption line spect ra which we apply to a little-studied visible band between 585 and 600 nm. The GOME retrieved columns are compared with data from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts for different orbits and show good agree ment. The new retrieval algorithm is sensitive to the temperature and press ure dependence of absorption lines in general and may be easily applied to spectra of trace gases other than water vapor.