Global statistical assessment of Haiyang-2B scanning microwave radiometer precipitable water vapor

Introduction: As a successor to Haiyang-2A (HY-2A), HY-2B is China’s second marine dynamic satellite. Equipped with a scanning microwave radiometer (SMR), it can measure the precipitable water vapor (PWV) over the oceans, providing valuable climate and weather insights. This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of HY-2B SMR PWV data from January 2019 to December 2021 using various validation methods.Methods: to validate HY-2B SMR PWV, fifth-generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis (ERA5) data, radiosonde data, and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) observations are used.Results: the validation shows that the HY-2B SMR PWV data agree well with the ERA5 PWV data, with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.61 mm and a mean value of 0.71 mm. However, RMSEs of approximately 3.5 mm are observed when comparing the HY-2B SMR PWV data to GNSS and radiosonde data, likely due to temporal and spatial gaps. Geographically, there are greater differences between the HY-2B SMR and ERA5 in lower-latitude areas. The reason could be attributed to a higher water vapor content and more frequent cloudy weather in the areas.Discussion: The results demonstrate that the HY-2B SMR PWV meets requirement (RMSE≤3.5 mm). The HY-2B SMR PWV has a high quality, with a slight observational drift of only 0.1 mm/year, but regular validation and calibration are still necessary.