Inversion of superior mirage data to compute temperature profiles

Abstract

Information derived from the superior mirage is used to compute the average vertical temperature profile in the atmosphere between the observer and a known object. The image is described by a plot of ray-elevation angle at the eye against elevation at which that ray intersects the object. The computational algorithm, based on the tracing of rays that have at most one vertex, iteratively adjusts the temperature profile until the observed image characteristics are reproduced. An example based on an observation made on the Beaufort Sea illustrates the process.