Ground-based microwave radiometric retrieval of precipitable water vapor in the presence of clouds with high liquid content

A dual-channel microwave radiometer that measures precipitable water vapor and cloud liquid was operated during the 1979 Severe Storms and Mesoscale Experiment (Sesame). Conventional retrievals of vapor in the presence of clouds with high liquid content were not satisfactory. To correct these retrievals, an adaptive retrieval algorithm is developed and applied to the Sesame data. During clear conditions, or conditions of light clouds, the new recoveries are quite close to those obtained by conventional statistical inversion; however, during heavy liquid-bearing clouds the recovered vapor agrees better with radiosonde data.