Environmental errors in use of the airborne infrared radiation thermometer to measure sea-surface temperature

An airborne infrared radiation thermometer (IRT) used to measure the sea-surface temperature is described, and the basic radiation principles on which the operation of the instrument depends are discussed. The environmental factors which may tend to introduce errors into the measurement of sea-surface temperature by the IRT are investigated: first by reviewing the works of some other authors; secondly by empirical means using field data supplied by the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office and the Sandy Hook Marine Laboratory. The empirical results indicate that absorption and emission of infrared energy by atmospheric water vapor are the important physical phenomena which cause IRT error. The results suggest that with increasing values of the combination of sea level mixing ratio and air temperature, IRT error decreases. An attempt is made to explain these results on the basis of radiation principles previously described.

Department dc:contributor.department

Meteorology and Oceanography

Year dc:date.issued

1964

Author dc:creator

• Christenson, Robert W. S.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jung, Glenn H.

Statement dc:rights

• This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10945/12110

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/12110