Temperatures aloft can be measured in a number of ways, two of which are useful for climate monitoring: by radiosondes (balloon - borne instrument packages, including thermometers, released daily or twice daily at a network of observing stations throughout the
world), and by satellite
measurements of
microwave radiation emitted by oxygen gas in the lower to mid-troposphere, taken with an instrument known as the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU).5 The balloon measurements are taken at the same Greenwich mean times each day, whereas the times of day of the satellite measurements for a given location drift slowly with changes in the satellit
microwave radiation emitted by oxygen gas in the lower to mid-troposphere, taken with an instrument known as the
Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU).5 The balloon measurements are taken at the same Greenwich mean times each day, whereas the times of day of the satellite measurements for a given location drift slowly with changes in the satellit
Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU).5 The balloon
measurements are taken at the same Greenwich mean times each day, whereas the times of day of the satellite
measurements for a given location drift slowly with changes in the satellite orbits.
Unlike IR
measurements, which are limited to cloud - free areas,
microwave retrievals provide a largely uninterrupted view of the surface temperature over the
world's oceans.