Atmospheric Temperature Fields Measurements Made by Earth Observation Satellites

CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MEASUREMENTS

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Atmospheric Temperature Fields

With humidity, atmospheric temperature profile data are a core requirement for weather forecasting and are coordinated within the framework of CGMS (The Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites). The data are used for numerical weather prediction (NWP), for monitoring inter-annual global temperature changes, for identifying correlations between atmospheric parameters and climatic behaviour, and for validating global models of the atmosphere.

Detailed Measurement	Description*	Instruments	Timeline
Air temperature (near surface) Link:	Air temperature at a known height above the surface with the height specified in the metadata - Measuring Units K, Uncertainty Units K	2 instruments
Atmospheric pressure (over land surface) Link:	Pressure caused by the weight of the atmosphere. At sea level it has a mean value of one atmosphere but reduces with increasing altitude. Conventionally measured at 2 m height. [Unit of measurement - hPa]	6 instruments
Atmospheric pressure (over sea surface) Link:	Pressure caused by the weight of the atmosphere. At sea level it has a mean value of one atmosphere but reduces with increasing altitude. Conventionally measured at 2 m height. [Unit of measurement - hPa]	6 instruments
Atmospheric stability index	Generic term to indicate a family of methods to infer thetemperature difference between an air parcel affected by vertical motion and the surrounding environment. Supportive of temperature profile and specific humidity profile). [Unit ofmeasurement - K]	12 instruments
Atmospheric temperature (column/profile) Link:	Vertical profile of the atmospheric temperature - Requested from surface to TOA (layers: LT, HT, LS, HS&M) - Physical unit: [ K ] - Accuracy unit: [ K ].	48 instruments
Cloud base height	Height of the bottom surface of the cloud - Physical unit: [ km ] - Accuracy unit: [ km ].	6 instruments
Height of the top of the Planetary Boundary Layer	Height of the surface separating the PBL from the free atmosphere - Physical unit: [ km ] - Accuracy unit: [ km ].	0 instruments
Height of tropopause	Height of the surface separating the troposphere from the stratosphere - Physical unit: [ km ] - Accuracy unit: [ km ].	6 instruments
Temperature of tropopause	Atmospheric temperature at the height of the surface separating the troposphere from the stratosphere - Physical unit: [ K ] - Accuracy unit: [ K ].	5 instruments

* Description adapted from WMO.