Determination of total vertical water vapor in the atmosphere

The comparison between the precipitable water vapor w obtained by classical sounding and that obtained by high resolution measurements of spectral solar direct irradiance in the 400–1000 nm spectral range is shown. Three different water vapor absorption functions in the πστ band are used to determine the water vapor w by optical measurements. An episode of attenuation of direct solar irradiance by cirrus clouds is also shown.