Atmospheric water vapour and cloud water: An overview

Hydro-meteorological parameters i.e. precipitable water, cloud water and ice content, and precipitation are most variable parameters in the atmosphere. This is the main reason why representative direct measurements of these properties are hardly available. Remote sensing with satellite-borne instruments in particular in the microwave spectral range is a way out of this dilemma. A number of algorithms has been developed. The different methods how to proceed in the development of such algorithms are discussed. Verification of the retrieved products in particular the liquid water path is a great problem, a few ideas will be discussed. Results will be shown for the total precipitable water W and liquid water path LWP over the Atlantic Ocean for different time scales. The structure of the W field is very similar for the same month in different years. But LWP is very variable, even for monthly means (October 1987 and 1989) the differences can be larger than 0.1 kg/m2