Oxygen channels of ADEOS-II AMSR: Comparison of the measured and simulated brightness temperatures

Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) on a board of ADEOS-II satellite had 14 channels, two of which received outgoing Earth’s radiation at an absorption band of molecular oxygen at frequencies ν = 50.3 and 52.8 GHz with vertical (V) polarization. Numerical experiments with a microwave radiative transfer model were carried out at the variations of the atmospheric and ocean surface parameters to interpret the variations of the measured brightness temperatures TB(ν) and determine a contribution of the ocean and the atmosphere to the TB(ν). Computations have shown that the TB variations reach 32-35 K at ν = 50.3 GHz and decrease till 2528 K at 52.8 GHz. The potential of oxygen channels is demonstrated by AMSR-based analysis of the cold air outbreaks, convective eddies, extratropical and tropical cyclones.