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The Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF): Description and Current ApplicationsAtmospheric scientists use different methods for interpreting satellite data. In the early days of satellite meteorology, the analysis of cloud pictures from satellites was primarily subjective. As computer technology improved, satellite pictures could be processed digitally, and mathematical algorithms were developed and applied to the digital images in different wavelength bands to extract information about the atmosphere in an objective way. The kind of mathematical algorithm one applies to satellite data may depend on the complexity of the physical processes that lead to the observed image, and how much information is contained in the satellite images both spatially and at different wavelengths. Imagery from satellite-borne passive microwave radiometers has limited horizontal resolution, and the observed microwave radiances are the result of complex physical processes that are not easily modeled. For this reason, a type of algorithm called a Bayesian estimation method is utilized to interpret passive microwave imagery in an objective, yet computationally efficient manner.
Document ID
20040082157
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Olson, William S.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Yang, Song
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Stout, John E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Grecu, Mircea
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2004
Subject Category
Numerical Analysis
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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