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The other type of radiometer flown on weather satellites is called a sounder. "Sounder" is a shorter name for Vertical Atmospheric Sounder (VAS),
don't let this name mislead you, these radiometers measure infrared radiation, not sound waves. Sounders provide vertical profiles of temperature,
pressure, water vapor and critical trace gases in the earth's atmosphere.
Trace gas profiles such as carbon dioxide or ozone are important for climate studies while temperature, water vapor and pressure
information are crucial to forecasting severe weather conditions long before dangerous weather even develops.
Prior to satellites this information was only available from weather balloons
launched by meteorologists at one or two locations in each state
twice a day. The increase in data made available by sounders on
weather satellites is truly astronomical in size. Instead of having
about 100 profiles of the atmosphere to analyze every day, scientists
now have an unlimited number of atmospheric profiles to interpret
thanks to GOES and POES satellite sounders.
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Satellite map indicating the vertical atmospheric
profiles available from GOES sounders
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