An observing system simulation experiment (OSSE)-based assessment of the retrieval of above-cloud temperature and water vapor using hyperspectral infrared sounder

Abstract. Measuring atmospheric conditions above convective storms is challenging. This study finds that the uncertainties in cloud properties near the top of deep convective clouds have a non-negligible impact on the TOA infrared radiances which cannot be fully eliminated by adopting a slab-cloud assumption. To overcome this issue, a synergetic retrieval method is developed. This method integrates the infrared hyperspectral observations with cloud measurements from active sensors to retrieve atmospheric temperature, water vapor, and cloud properties simultaneously. Using an observation system simulation experiment (OSSE), we found that the retrieval method is capable of detecting the spatial distribution of temperature and humidity anomalies above convective storms and reducing the root-mean-square-errors in temperature and column integrated water vapor by more than half.