AIRS

Frequently Asked Questions


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Q.  There have been changes in the retrieval processing from V4 to V5 which
affect the water vapor product. Is there documentation? I am currently
working with AIRS L2 water vapor products  

A.  Download the V5_Test_Report.pdf document and search for the phrase
"dry bias".

You will see that V4 moisture data product had a dry bias in the upper
troposphere that has been corrected in V5. That dry bias was reported
in the paper:

Tobin, D.C., H. E. Revercomb, R. O. Knuteson, B. Lesht, L. L. Strow,
S. E. Hannon, W. F. Feltz, L. Moy, E. J. Fetzer, and T. Cress (2006),
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement site atmospheric state best
estimates for Atmospheric Infrared Sounder temperature and water vapor
retrieval validation, J. Geophys. Res., 111, doi:10.1029/2005JD006103.

The test report also shows that the web bias in total precipitable WV
has been improved in the V5 product.

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