Book Description

Vertical cross-sections of temperature between 60°S and 50°N for Apr. 6, 1973, are derived from (a) radiosonde, (b) Nimbus-5 Infrared Temperature Profile Radiometer, Nimbus-E Microwave Spectrometer and Selective Chopper Radiometer, and (c) NOAA-2 Vertical Temperature Profile Radiometer (VTPR) data. Comparisons are made of the level temperatures and latitudinal temperature gradients, geopotential heights and the latitudinal gradients, and geostrophic winds inferred from the radiosonde and satellite cross-sections. The results of this limited case study indicate: 1. Temperature accuracies for the lower troposphere obtained with Nimbus-5 sounding data are superior to those achieved with the NOAA-2 VTPR data. 2. The agreement between latitudinal gradients of temperature derived from satellite data and radiosonde observations is much better than the agreement between level temperatures obtained from satellite and radiosonde observations. 3. The geostrophic wind distribution of jet streams derived from satellite data possesses more character and intensity than does the geostrophic wind distribution obtained from radiosonde data.