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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Measurement of Aerosols Optical Thickness of the Atmosphere using the GLOBE Handheld Sun Photometer
Published on: May 29, 2019
Lunar absorption spectrophotometer for measuring atmospheric water vapor
Richard R Querel1, David A Naylor
1Institute for Space Imaging Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
Abstract:
A novel instrument has been designed to measure the nighttime atmospheric water vapor column abundance by near-infrared absorption spectrophotometry of the Moon. The instrument provides a simple, effective, portable, and inexpensive means of rapidly measuring the water vapor content along the lunar line of sight. Moreover, the instrument is relatively insensitive to the atmospheric model used and, thus, serves to provide an independent calibration for other measures of precipitable water vapor from both ground- and space-based platforms.
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