An improved scheme for the remote sensing of sea surface temperature

A radiometer which possesses two channels in the 11 to 13 micrometer window region is discussed. The radiometer is used to estimate the sea surface temperature within an accuracy of 1 C. A mathematical model is presented to show that the accuracy is improved to within 0.3 C with an independent estimate of total precipitable water vapor. A broadband channel in the 18 micrometer water vapor band is introduced in addition to the two former channels to remotely sense the total precipitable water vapor. The effect of the surface emissivity is taken into account in the scheme.