The clear-sky unpolarized forward model for the EOS Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS)

This paper describes the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) forward model for a clear-sky atmosphere emitting unpolarized radiation. This model is used for the majority of the EOS MLS radiance calculations. The orbital and viewing geometry of MLS on Aura is such that a two-dimensional (vertical and line-of-sight, horizontal) forward model provides the most accurate basis for the inversion performed in retrievals. The model consists of atmospheric radiative transfer convolved with the instrumental field of view and the spectral response. An additional model relating the pointing heights supplied by the Aura satellite operations and MLS scan pointing encoders to the limb tangent pressure and atmospheric temperature is described. The analytic computation of Jacobians needed for retrievals is given.