Reviewing the development of a ground-based FTIR water vapour profile analysis

Abstract

Due to a large vertical gradient and strong variability of water vapour, algorithms that are effectively applied for ground-based remote sensing of many different atmospheric trace gases can be insufficient for the retrieval of tropospheric water vapour profiles. We review the most important features of the retrieval and of the radiative transfer modelling required for accurate monitoring of tropospheric water vapour profiles by ground-based FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) experiments. These are: a fit of a variety of different water vapour lines with different strength, a logarithmic scale inversion, a speed dependent Voigt line shape model, and a joint temperature profile retrieval. Furthermore, the introduction of an interspecies constraint allows for a monitoring of HDO/H2O ratio profiles.