GHIS—The GOES High-Resolution Interferometer Sounder

Abstract

A high spectral resolution interferometer sounder (GHIS) has been designed for flight on future geostationary meteorological satellites. It incorporates the measurement principles of an aircraft prototype instrument, which has demonstrated the capability to observe the earth-emitted radiance spectrum with high accuracy. The aircraft results indicate that the theoretical expectation of 1°C temperature and 2°–3°C dewpoint retrieval accuracy will be achieved. The vertical resolution of the water vapor profile appears good enough to enable moisture tracking in numerous vertical layers thereby providing wind profile information as well as thermodynamic profiles of temperature and water vapor.