Abstract
Inversion methods have been proposed previously for inferring vertical atmospheric thermal structure from nadir angle or frequency scans made by satellite infrared radiometers. It proves possible to devise transform techniques based solely on radiometric data which yield, in principle, information on a number of meteorological variables other than the temperature. The formalism is developed for radiometric sensing of the lapse-rate, mixing ratios of radiating gases, the internal atmospheric radiative flux and heating rate, as well as the pressure at the surface or cloud tops. It is shown that the internal radiative flux is more directly related to the satellite radiometric environment than to the vertical temperature field. This follows from the integral transform character of both the upwelling radiation and radiative flux.
