Thomas J. McGee

Halogen Occultation Experiment ozone channel validation

The HALogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) instrument on UARS observes vertical profiles of ozone and other gases of interest for atmospheric chemistry using the solar occultation technique. A broadband radiometer in the 9.6-μm band is used for ozone measurements. Version 17 ozone retrieved by HALOE is intercompared successfully with about 400 profiles of other sounders, including ozonesondes, lidars, balloons, rocketsondes, and other satellites. Usually, the HALOE data are within the error range of the correlative measurements between about 100 and 0.03 mbar atmospheric pressure. Between about 30 and 1 mbar, HALOE agrees typically within 5%, with a tendency to be low. In the first year of data, larger errors sometimes occur in the lower stratosphere due to the necessary correction for Pinatubo aerosol effects, but these differences do not exceed 20%. The data show internal consistency for sunrise and sunset events at the same locations. Some examples of observed ozone distributions, including polar regions, are given.

Validation of temperature measurements from the Halogen Occultation Experiment

The Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) onboard UARS measures profiles of limb path solar attenuation in eight infrared bands. These measurements are used to infer profiles of temperature, gas mixing ratios of seven species, and aerosol extinction at five wavelengths. The objective of this paper is to validate profiles of temperature retrieved from atmospheric transmission measurements in the 2.80-μm CO2 band. Temperatures are retrieved for levels above where aerosol affects the signals (35 km) to altitudes where the signal-to-noise decreases to unity (∽85 km). At altitudes from 45 to 35 km the profile undergoes a gradual transition from retrieved to National Meteorological Center (NMC) temperatures and below 35 km the profile is strictly from the NMC. This validation covers the uncertainty analysis, internal validations, and comparisons with independent measurements. Monte Carlo calculations using all known random and systematic errors determine typical measurement uncertainties of 5 K for altitudes below 80 km. Comparisons of coincident HALOE sunrise and sunset measurements are an indicator of the upper limit of measurement uncertainty. The sunrise-sunset comparisons have random and systematic differences which are less than 10 K for altitudes below 80 km. Comparisons of HALOE to lidar and rocket measurements typically have random differences of ∽5 K for altitudes below 65 km. The mean differences for the correlative comparisons indicate that HALOE temperatures have a cold bias (2 to 5 K) in the upper stratosphere and stratopause.

Raman dial measurements of stratospheric ozone in the presence of volcanic aerosols

Since the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in June, 1991, measurements of atmospheric species which depend on Rayleigh scattering of radiation, have been severely compromised where the volcanic aerosol cloud exists. For the GSFC stratospheric ozone lidar, this has meant that ozone determination has been impossible below approximately 30 km. The GSFC lidar has been modified to detect Raman scattering from nitrogen molecules from transmitted laser wavelengths. The instrument transmits two laser wavelengths at 308 nm and 351 nm, and detects returns at four wavelengths; 308 nm, 332 nm, 351 nm, and 382 nm. Using this technique in conjunction with the Rayleigh DIAL measurement, ozone profiles have been measured between 15 and 50 km.

Ozone differential absorption lidar algorithm intercomparison

An intercomparison of ozone differential absorption lidar algorithms was performed in 1996 within the framework of the Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Changes (NDSC) lidar working group. The objective of this research was mainly to test the differentiating techniques used by the various lidar teams involved in the NDSC for the calculation of the ozone number density from the lidar signals. The exercise consisted of processing synthetic lidar signals computed from simple Rayleigh scattering and three initial ozone profiles. Two of these profiles contained perturbations in the low and the high stratosphere to test the vertical resolution of the various algorithms. For the unperturbed profiles the results of the simulations show the correct behavior of the lidar processing methods in the low and the middle stratosphere with biases of less than 1% with respect to the initial profile to as high as 30 km in most cases. In the upper stratosphere, significant biases reaching 10% at 45 km for most of the algorithms are obtained. This bias is due to the decrease in the signal-to-noise ratio with altitude, which makes it necessary to increase the number of points of the derivative low-pass filter used for data processing. As a consequence the response of the various retrieval algorithms to perturbations in the ozone profile is much better in the lower stratosphere than in the higher range. These results show the necessity of limiting the vertical smoothing in the ozone lidar retrieval algorithm and questions the ability of current lidar systems to detect long-term ozone trends above 40 km. Otherwise the simulations show in general a correct estimation of the ozone profile random error and, as shown by the tests involving the perturbed ozone profiles, some inconsistency in the estimation of the vertical resolution among the lidar teams involved in this experiment.

Accuracy and precision of cryogenic limb array etalon spectrometer (CLAES) temperature retrievals

The Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer (CLAES) measured emission from the 792 cm−1 Q branch of CO2, from which temperature distributions in the stratosphere and low mesosphere were derived. Here we briefly review the measurement technique, concentrating on aspects that affect the temperature determination. Comparison of many pairs of retrievals at the same location (near 32°N or 32°S) measured on sequential orbits (time separation of 96 min) shows a precision ranging from approximately 0.8 K at 68 mbar to about 3.5 K at 0.2 mbar, which agrees with simulations incorporating random noise and short-period spacecraft motions. Comparisons of globally analyzed CLAES data with National Meteorological Center (NMC) and U.K. Meteorological Office (UKMO) analyses show general agreement, with CLAES tending to be cooler by about 2 K, except in the tropics and high-latitude winter conditions. This is supported by comparisons with individual radiosondes and several lidars that indicate that the agreement is within 2 K throughout the profile (except for a narrow layer around 3 mbar). An error analysis also indicates that systematic errors should be roughly 2 K, independent of altitude. The systematic differences at low latitudes appear to be due to tropical waves, which have vertical wavelengths too short to be seen by the TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) instruments. There are no correlative rocketsondes or lidars to help resolve the reasons for the high-latitude differences. Comparisons with other Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) data should shed additional light on this question.

Stratospheric temperature measurements by two collocated NDSC lidars during UARS validation campaign

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) mobile lidar system was deployed at the Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP), during an Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)/Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) correlative measurement campaign (July–August 1992). The objective of this campaign was twofold: to intercompare two independent lidars and to provide ground-based UARS correlative ozone and temperature validation measurements. This paper, for the first time, presents a coincident temperature intercomparison between two independently operating temperature lidar systems of similar capabilities. Systems and retrieval algorithms have been described and discussed in terms of error sources. The comparison of the two analyses have shown very similar results up to the upper mesosphere. The statistical mean differences of 0.5 K in the stratosphere and about 2 K in the mesosphere suggests insignificant bias throughout except below 35 km, where one of the data sets is contaminated by the volcanic aerosols from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. Profiles of the root-mean-square (RMS) of the differences are in good agreement with random error estimates, except around 35–40 km where RMS is larger. These measurements can be used as the ground reference for UARS temperature validation. However, the spatial-temporal coincidence between satellite and lidar needs to be carefully considered for meaningful validation.

STROZ LITE: Stratospheric Ozone Lidar Trailer Experiment

As a part of the international Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change, Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a mobile differential absorption lidar capable of making precise and accurate measurements in the stratosphere between 20 and 45 km. We present in this paper a description of the instrument, a discussion of the data analysis, and some results from an intercomparison held at JPLs Table Mountain Observatory in California during October and November 1988.

SO2 absorption cross sections in the near U.V.

In order to understand data measured by the TOMS instrument onboard Nimbus 7 after the eruption of El Chichon, we have measured absorption cross sections in SO2, between 3000 and 3240 A at 295 and 210 K. Error for these measurements range from <2% to about 10%. Measurements in the 3175 ± 5 A spectral region observed by TOMS indicate that there is a 9% reduction in the average cross section at 210 K compared to room temperature data. Peak cross sections measured at low temperature show increases up to 20% over room temperature data, while cross-section decreases are measured at low temperatures in the areas between the strong features.

Collisional deactivation rates for A 2Σ+ (ν′ = 1) state of OH

Abstract Rates for rotational transfer, vibrational crossover, and electronic quenching have been determined for specific rotational levels, N ′, of A 2 Σ + , ν′ = 1, OH radicals in the presence of N 2 and O 2 quenching gases. Measurements of total rates of depletion of specific rotational levels, rates of energy transfer out of the ν′ = 1 state, and fluorescence spectra were made at room temperature utilizing a low-pressure OH flow system. Total rates of depletion and rotational transfer rates for N 2 and O 2 quenching gases show a weak dependence upon N ′. The N 2 quenching rates for these processes and for vibrational crossover were faster than the O 2 rates. Conversely, the O 2 rates for electronic quenching were greater than the N 2 rates.

Initial validation of ozone measurements from the High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder

Comparisons of the latest High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS) ozone retrievals (v2.04.09) are made with ozonesondes, ground-based lidars, airborne lidar measurements made during the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment–B, and satellite observations. A large visual obstruction blocking over 80% of the HIRDLS field of view presents significant challenges to the data analysis methods and implementation, to the extent that the radiative properties of the obstruction must be accurately characterized in order to adequately correct measured radiances. The radiance correction algorithms updated as of August 2007 are used in the HIRDLS v2.04.09 data presented here. Comparisons indicate that HIRDLS ozone is recoverable between 1 and 100 hPa at middle and high latitudes and between 1 and 50 hPa at low latitudes. Accuracy of better than 10% is indicated between 1 and 30 hPa (HIRDLS generally low) by the majority of the comparisons with coincident measurements, and 5% is indicated between 2 and 10 hPa when compared with some lidars. Between 50 and 100 hPa, at middle and high latitudes, accuracy is 10–20%. The ozone precision is estimated to be generally 5–10% between 1 and 50 hPa. Comparisons with ozonesondes and lidars give strong indication that HIRDLS is capable of resolving fine vertical ozone features (1–2 km) in the region between 1 and 50 hPa. Development is continuing on the radiance correction and the cloud detection and filtering algorithms, and it is hoped that it will be possible to achieve a further reduction in the systematic bias and an increase in the measurement range downward to lower heights (at pressures greater than 50–100 hPa).