Efficient Model-Based Estimation of Atmospheric Transmittance and Ocean Wind Direction from WindSat Polarimetric Microwave Radiometer Data

An efficient method for estimating atmospheric transmittance is presented for WindSat polarimetric microwave radiometer data. The method is dependent on an approximation that is valid for earth incidence angles near 53deg. By combining the estimated atmospheric transmittances at different frequencies, the water vapor and cloud liquid water can be retrieved. The method can also be used for making atmospheric corrections in order to improve wind vector estimates from WindSat data.