HMK

Utah Hyperspectral MWR Participation in CAPE-k

1 April 2024 - 15 September 2025

Lead Scientist: Gerald Mace

Observatory: AMF

ARM has relied on two- and three-channel microwave radiometers for decades to constrain the vertically integrated liquid water content of liquid water path (LWP) and vertically integrated water vapor or precipitable water vapor (PWV) as fundamental constraints. In this proposal I will operate a Radiometrics MP-3000A hyper-spectral microwave radiometer (hereafter, Utah MWR) at the Clouds and Precipitation Experiment at Kennaook (CAPE-K).  This instrument has 21 K-band channels and 14 V-band channels. the hyper-spectral nature of this radiometer in the K- and V-bands allows for retrieval of water vapor, temperature, and liquid water profiles in the lower troposphere in addition to the LWP and PWV, which arguably can be retrieved with more accuracy given the greater constraints provided by the hyperspectral measurements.  Of particular interest is the extent to which the Utah MWR measurements convey useful information about the MBL structure, cloud geometric depth, and vertical distribution of liquid water.  I will evaluate the retrieval capabilities of this radiometer against other ARM measurements such as cloud radar and radiosonde measurements during CAPE-K.