Ground based remote profiling of the atmosphere: Demands, prospects and status

The “traditional” fields of application of ground based remote sensing, are local and meso-scale studies and, more recently, observational networks used for weather forecast. In this paper their potential role in climate research is discussed. Global circulation models used for climate simulation depend on the realistic parameterization of unresolved physical processes. Particularly the presentation of processes related to the hydrological cycle seems to require improvements. Existing data sets, providing the basis for pertinent parameterizations, suffer from deficiencies, which may be overcome by the systematic use of ground based remote sensing in a global climatologic observing system.