Determining atmospheric temperature and pressure profiles from measurements of astronomical refraction near horizon

The results of retrieval of the vertical profiles of atmospheric parameters are given on the basis of measurements of the optical refraction of celestial bodies from the Earth's surface at positive angles of elevation. The study is based on the results of simultaneous astronomical and aerological observations made in October 1968 and 1972. The measurement region was a slightly hilly semi-desert with a clayey-rocky underlying surface. The retrieval was based on solution of the corresponding inverse problem relative to the refractive index. The accuracy of retrieval is comparable to the best theoretical evaluations of the accuracy of retrieval by the surface microwave radiometry method.