El vapor de agua atmosférico sobre la península ibéricavalidación y efecto radiativo

Résumé

Water vapor is an atmospheric compound of paramount importance in the climate system. It is the most relevant absorbent of infrared light and, in consequence, it constitutes a positive feedback for global warming. Nevertehless, its high variability makes it difficult to study. There are many kinds of instruments that are able to measure water vapor. For this reason, it is a fundamental task to perform comparisons among different instruments to improve the water vapor products, and assess their quality. Among groundbased techniques, radiosounding allows a direct measurement, traditionally used as a reference. However, recently Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers have started to be used for water vapor retrieval, which allow a high temporal resolution and excellent quality. Moreover, satellite measurements solve a typical problem of GNSS and radiosounding: spatial resolution. Satellite instruments allow observing the whole planet every day, reaching regions that are not covered by GNSS or radiosounding networks. Once this study is completed, study of radiative effect of water vapor in the Iberian Peninsula is considered, using GNSS data and a radiative transfer model both in short-wave and long-wave.