Radiation Features of Cloudiness at Millimeter Waves

Abstract

The results of an one-year cycle of continuous observations of the atmospheric radio emission in the vertical direction at 94 and 38 GHz are analyzed. The numerous cases of anomalous (several times) difference of experimental and theoretical values of the ratio of absorption coefficients at two frequencies are marked. It is shown that their principal reasons are the particles of snow and ice in clouds. The possibility of using the double-frequency radiometry for estimating not only the water content in clouds but also their effective temperature, as well as for investigating the hydrometeor microstructure is pointed out. The regime of polarization measurements is especially useful for these purpose. The applicability of the algorithm for restoring the values of complete vertical absorption, vapour water content and liquid water content in atmosphere as well as the effective temperature of clouds is demonstrated.