Remote Sounding of Infrared Surface Fluxes and Cooling Rates from Space

A novel approach is proposed for the direct inference of infrared surface fluxes from space based on the principles of radiative transfer. The methodology proposed involves concurrent observations of broadband outgoing infrared fluxes at the top of the atmosphere and total infrared cooling within the atmosphere. To obtain the total atmospheric cooling, a combined utilization of angular and wavenumber scans is developed to retrieve infrared cooling rate profiles covering the entire infrared spectrum. We demonstrate that suitable weighting functions in the rotational and 6.3μm H₂O bands can be selected for retrieval of cooling rates, and that CO₂ and O₃ absorption can be neglected in the estimate of total atmospheric cooling.