From February 22nd to March 8th, I had a secondment at Radiometer Physics GmbH (RPG) in Meckenheim, Germany. The aim of this secondment was to assess the systematic and random errors on retrieved brightness temperature and liquid water path from microwave radiometers (MWR).
During my stay I gained insight into the set-up, operation and calibration procedures of the RPG HATPRO G4 microwave radiometer and use of its associated data viewing and analysis software. It was very useful to compare RPG procedures with the ones used at CNR-IMAA for the Radiometrics MP3014 MWR regarding calibration issues such as standing wave patterns at liquid nitrogen calibration (Paine et al., 2014). Part of the work also focused on deriving the expected liquid water paths for very small increases (~3K) in brightness temperatures in the K band channels of the MWR through radiative transfer modeling. This part provided critical information on the “presence of liquid water in VIS clear sky” theory associated with the twilight zone.
I also got the chance to attend a workshop at the University of Cologne at the invitation of Prof. Susanne Crewell on airborne instrumentation, which will be deployed for future Polar 5 missions. The workshop provided an insight into state-of-the-art airborne remote sensing of the atmosphere and it future development.
This secondment was very useful for my current research activity and for future plans. It was interesting for me to see things also form the point of view of a manufacturer of remote sensing instrumentation, and gain an insight into important aspects, which may otherwise elude scientists.
I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Rose, Dr. Harald Czekala and Dr. Gerrit Maschwitz for dedicating time for me and my work during a very busy period for them.