Characteristics of Precipitable Water Vapor and Liquid Water Path by Microwave Radiometer

Based on the observation of the microwave radiometers at Cheongju, Hapcheon and Daegwallyeong in Korea, the precipitable water vapor and liquid water path have been analyzed for spatio-temporal characteristics. The observed datas have been validated by comparing precipitable water vapor between the microwave radiometer and the radiosonde near the sites. It resulted in the correlation coefficient of more than 0.8 in all three sites. For three regions, the precipitable water vapor shows similar seasonal variation and diurnal cycle, and that amount of precipitable water vapor increases from around 1000 LST and has a maximum value at 1900 LST. On the other hand, the liquid water path of microwave radiometer has regional differences for its seasonal variation, which seems to be caused by the geographical characteristics including the frequent fog and clouds in Daegwallyeong, a high mountain region (834 m from sea level), almost flat land in Chengju, and Sobaek Mountains in Hapcheon that blocks the westerly clouds.