Application of VISSR Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) data

Sounding data which were derived from VAS radiance measurements and anticipated increased time and space resolution of the mesoscale environment are outlined. The new data presents problems which are not encounted when using conventional measurements because of the irregular spacing of the data, biases in the data, and errors due to cloud contaminated measurements. These problems are addressed and an analysis technique which utilizes LFM guess fields to produce a consistent four dimensional data set which describes the mesoscale environment over a large area is presented.