Infrared Remote Sensing with Meteorological Satellites

Remote sensing of the earth and its atmosphere in the infrared spectrum has become a mainstay in environmental monitoring for weather and climate. From the start of occasional rocket-borne camera pictures, to the first global measurements of outgoing longwave infrared radiation, to global day and night visible and infrared picture mosaics, to complementary hourly full earth disk visible and infrared measurements, to full spectral (visible, near infrared, infrared, and microwave) global measurements of the earth surface and atmosphere, it is a history of continuing improvement in environmental remote sensing capabilities. Snapshots and mosaics gave way to seamless global coverage in wavelengths from half microns to hundreds of GHz. This chapter gives a brief history of the evolution of meteorological satellite sensors in polar and geostationary orbit, explores the characteristics of radiative transfer through the atmosphere (with a focus on infrared radiation that is dominated by CO2, H2O, and O-3 molecular interactions), notes where high spectral resolution infrared measurements have improved absorption and radiative transfer calculations, and gives some examples of applications with high spectral resolution infrared measurements.