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Remote Sensing
Volume 17
Issue 14
10.3390/rs17142458
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Article

Retrieval of Cloud, Atmospheric, and Surface Properties from Far-Infrared Spectral Radiances Measured by FIRMOS-B During the 2022 HEMERA Stratospheric Balloon Campaign

by
Gianluca Di Natale
1,
Claudio Belotti
1,
Marco Barucci
1,
Marco Ridolfi
1,
Silvia Viciani
1,
Francesco D’Amato
1,
Samuele Del Bianco
2,
Bianca Maria Dinelli
3 and
Luca Palchetti
1,*
1
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, National Institute of Optics, Via Madonna del Piano, 10, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Firenze, Italy
2
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Institute of Applied Physics “Nello Carrara”, Via Madonna del Piano, 10, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Firenze, Italy
3
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Institute for Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Via Gobetti, 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(14), 2458; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17142458
Submission received: 3 June 2025 / Revised: 4 July 2025 / Accepted: 7 July 2025 / Published: 16 July 2025
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Abstract

The knowledge of the radiative properties of clouds and the atmospheric state is of fundamental importance in modelling phenomena in numerical weather predictions and climate models. In this study, we show the results of the retrieval of cloud properties, along with the atmospheric state and the surface temperature, from far-infrared spectral radiances, in the 100–1000 cm−1 range, measured by the Far-Infrared Radiation Mobile Observation System-Balloon version (FIRMOS-B) spectroradiometer from a stratospheric balloon launched from Timmins (Canada) in August 2022 within the HEMERA 3 programme. The retrieval study is performed with the Optimal Estimation inversion approach, using three different forward models and retrieval codes to compare the results. Cloud optical depth, particle effective size, and cloud top height are retrieved with good accuracy, despite the relatively high measurement noise of the FIRMOS-B observations used for this study. The retrieved atmospheric profiles, computed simultaneously with cloud parameters, are in good agreement with both co-located radiosonde measurements and ERA-5 profiles, under all-sky conditions. The findings are very promising for the development of an optimised retrieval procedure to analyse the high-precision FIR spectral measurements, which will be delivered by the ESA FORUM mission.
Keywords: Fourier Transform Spectrometer; far infrared; atmospheric retrieval; cloud properties; stratospheric balloon; ESA-FORUM Fourier Transform Spectrometer; far infrared; atmospheric retrieval; cloud properties; stratospheric balloon; ESA-FORUM

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MDPI and ACS Style

Di Natale, G.; Belotti, C.; Barucci, M.; Ridolfi, M.; Viciani, S.; D’Amato, F.; Del Bianco, S.; Dinelli, B.M.; Palchetti, L. Retrieval of Cloud, Atmospheric, and Surface Properties from Far-Infrared Spectral Radiances Measured by FIRMOS-B During the 2022 HEMERA Stratospheric Balloon Campaign. Remote Sens. 2025, 17, 2458. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17142458

AMA Style

Di Natale G, Belotti C, Barucci M, Ridolfi M, Viciani S, D’Amato F, Del Bianco S, Dinelli BM, Palchetti L. Retrieval of Cloud, Atmospheric, and Surface Properties from Far-Infrared Spectral Radiances Measured by FIRMOS-B During the 2022 HEMERA Stratospheric Balloon Campaign. Remote Sensing. 2025; 17(14):2458. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17142458

Chicago/Turabian Style

Di Natale, Gianluca, Claudio Belotti, Marco Barucci, Marco Ridolfi, Silvia Viciani, Francesco D’Amato, Samuele Del Bianco, Bianca Maria Dinelli, and Luca Palchetti. 2025. "Retrieval of Cloud, Atmospheric, and Surface Properties from Far-Infrared Spectral Radiances Measured by FIRMOS-B During the 2022 HEMERA Stratospheric Balloon Campaign" Remote Sensing 17, no. 14: 2458. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17142458

APA Style

Di Natale, G., Belotti, C., Barucci, M., Ridolfi, M., Viciani, S., D’Amato, F., Del Bianco, S., Dinelli, B. M., & Palchetti, L. (2025). Retrieval of Cloud, Atmospheric, and Surface Properties from Far-Infrared Spectral Radiances Measured by FIRMOS-B During the 2022 HEMERA Stratospheric Balloon Campaign. Remote Sensing, 17(14), 2458. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17142458

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