THEORETICAL PROBLEMS OF INFRARED REMOTE SENSING OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Some theoretical results of atmospheric remote sensing are presented here. The term "remote sensing equation" is suggested for studying various remote sensing problems with uniform physical-mathematical analysis. The "correctness" of remote sensing equations corresponding to typical problems (the temperature remote sensing and the remote sensing of vertical profiles of T and constituents of atmosphere) and the two basic methods of remote sensing (the spectral method and the scanning method) are investigated.The concept of the "layer of optimal information" is given, and on this basis a reliable approach to choosing the channel of remote sensing is provided. In this way, it is also deduced that a vertical profile of water vapor in planetary boundary layer cannot be derived reliably from satellite infrared measurement. Some effective inversion methods are given here too.