AERIPROF

AERI profiles of water vapor and temperature are retrieved about every 8 minutes and supplement other methods of determining the structure of the lower atmosphere. These profiles are the result of taking the inverse of the radiative transfer equation, which can be unstable. Statistical first-guess profiles prevent the inversion from becoming unstable. The profiles are derived from a historical database of radiosondes and model calculations (at AERI resolution) from the radiosondes at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. They are then smoothed to remove all but the gross structure, allowing the retrieval process to put the structure back into the profile.

For more details, see the AERI Profiles of Water Vapor and Temperature technical report and for more information on the QME AERI process.