Spectrometer/Radiometer for Measuring Heights of Cloud Tops

A spectrometer/radiometer now undergoing development is designed to be used aboard a spacecraft to measure the heights of cloud tops on Earth. The spectrometer/radiometer performs functions of three instruments - two spectrometers and a radiometer - that share a common field of view. Each of these instrument techniques implements a technique that has been used before, by itself, to measure the heights of cloud tops. By combining the three techniques in a single instrument package, the design of the spectrometer/radiometer makes it possible to determine cloud-top heights more accurately than can be done by use of one of the techniques alone. Moreover, the three techniques are complementary, so that at least one of the techniques can yield a useful measurement under conditions in which the other two techniques are deficient.