Atmospheric temperature: successful test of remote probing.
The Nimbus III satellite carries the satellite infrared spectrometer (SIRS). It measures the radiance of the earth and the atmosphere in seven narrow spectral intervals in the 15-micrometer carbon dioxide band and in one interval of minimum absorption at 11.1 micrometers. Seven simultaneous equations are solved to obtain the vertical temperature profile; the eighth measurement is used to determine the boundary condition (cloud or surface temperature). Results agree with those obtained from conventional radiosondes.
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Hilleary
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