ESSC/GHCC, Univ. Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville AL, 35899 USA
"Global Atmospheric Temperatures from Satellites"
Since late 1978, polar-orbiting weather satellites have carried the
Microwave Sounding Unit instrument which senses the intensity of emissions
from atmospheric oxygen near the 60GHz absorption band. The intensity of
the emissions is proportional to atmospheric temperature. These
observations provide global coverage and reasonable precision to assess
long-term variations and trends in deep-layer temperatures of the global
atmosphere on a daily basis. Some associations between the temperatures of
the lower stratosphere, lower troposphere and the 10.7 cm solar flux have
been documented. Of greatest curiosity is the disparity in global
temperature trends between the lower troposphere measured from satellites
and the traditional surface measurements, with the latter trend being more
positive than the former.