ADEOS-II Science Project

Image Library Mar. 7, 2003

Measuring water vapor distribution in the atmosphere

Chain of tropical cyclones
» See Larger Image (1000×1131pixels: 182KB)

These images show the global water vapor distribution estimated by AMSR data acquired on February 4, 2003. The upper image shows observations around 10:30 p.m. local time, and the lower image 10:30 a.m. Moist atmosphere clearly intruded into high latitudes along with cyclones or fronts. The amount and distribution of water included in the atmosphere, such as water vapor and rainfall, have very large variability both temporally and spatially, and the variation is closely related to our daily life. AMSR is one of highest horizontal resolution microwave radiometers. Detailed information of water vapor and rainfall provided by AMSR is thus expected to improve the accuracy of numerical weather predictions through models. Furthermore, operating AMSR with AMSR-E, a sister sensor developed by NASDA with AMSR and flown aboard NASA's Aqua satellite, increases the observation cycle and coverage over the entire globe, and much more information will become available. These data are processed with the AMSR standard algorithm, and we will start validating products processed continuously by using ground observation data. For this beautiful planet ADEOS-II

» go to AMSR/AMSR-E Product & Algorithm page

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