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- Clerbaux, C., et al.
(författare)
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CO measurements from the ACE-FTS satellite instrument: data analysis and validation using ground-based, airborne and spaceborne observations
- 2008
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Ingår i: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 8, s. 2569-2594
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) mission was launched in August 2003 to sound the atmosphere by solar occultation. Carbon monoxide (CO), a good tracer of pollution plumes and atmospheric dynamics, is one of the key species provided by the primary instrument, the ACE-Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS). This instrument performs measurements in both the CO 1-0 and 2-0 ro-vibrational bands, from which vertically resolved CO concentration profiles are retrieved, from the mid-troposphere to the thermosphere. This paper presents an updated description of the ACE-FTS version 2.2 CO data product, along with a comprehensive validation of these profiles using available observations (February 2004 to December 2006). We have compared the CO partial columns with ground-based measurements using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and millimeter wave radiometry, and the volume mixing ratio profiles with airborne (both high-altitude balloon flight and airplane) observations. CO satellite observations provided by nadir-looking instruments (MOPITT and TES) as well as limb-viewing remote sensors (MIPAS, SMR and MLS) were also compared with the ACE-FTS CO products. We show that the ACE-FTS measurements provide CO profiles with small retrieval errors (better than 5% from the upper troposphere to 40 km, and better than 10% above). These observations agree well with the correlative measurements, considering the rather loose coincidence criteria in some cases. Based on the validation exercise we assess the following uncertainties to the ACE-FTS measurement data: better than 15% in the upper troposphere (8–12 km), than 30% in the lower stratosphere (12–30 km), and than 25% from 30 to 100 km.
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| 2. |
- Kerzenmacher, T., et al.
(författare)
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Validation of NO2 and NO from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE)
- 2008
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Ingår i: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 8:19, s. 5801--5841-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vertical profiles of NO2 and NO have been obtained from solar occultation measurements by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE), using an infrared Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) and (for NO2) an ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared spectrometer, MAESTRO (Measurement of Aerosol Extinction in the Stratosphere and Troposphere Retrieved by Occultation). In this paper, the quality of the ACE-FTS version 2.2 NO2 and NO and the MAESTRO version 1.2 NO2 data are assessed using other solar occultation measurements (HALOE, SAGE II, SAGE III, POAM III, SCIAMACHY), stellar occultation measurements (GOMOS), limb measurements (MIPAS, OSIRIS), nadir measurements (SCIAMACHY), balloon-borne measurements (SPIRALE, SAOZ) and ground-based measurements (UV-VIS, FTIR). Time differences between the comparison measurements were reduced using either a tight coincidence criterion, or where possible, chemical box models. ACE-FTS NO2 and NO and the MAESTRO NO2 are generally consistent with the correlative data. The ACE-FTS and MAESTRO NO2 volume mixing ratio (VMR) profiles agree with the profiles from other satellite data sets to within about 20% between 25 and 40 km, with the exception of MIPAS ESA (for ACE-FTS) and SAGE II (for ACE-FTS (sunrise) and MAESTRO) and suggest a negative bias between 23 and 40 km of about 10%. MAESTRO reports larger VMR values than the ACE-FTS. In comparisons with HALOE, ACE-FTS NO VMRs typically (on average) agree to ±8% from 22 to 64 km and to +10% from 93 to 105 km, with maxima of 21% and 36%, respectively. Partial column comparisons for NO2 show that there is quite good agreement between the ACE instruments and the FTIRs, with a mean difference of +7.3% for ACE-FTS and +12.8% for MAESTRO.
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| 3. |
- Wang, D.Y., et al.
(författare)
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Validation of nitric acid retrieved by the IMK-IAA processor from MIPAS/ENVISAT measurements
- 2007
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Ingår i: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 7, s. 721-738
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) onboard the ENVISAT satellite provides profiles of temperature and various trace-gases from limb-viewing mid-infrared emission measurements. The stratospheric nitric acid (HNO(3)) from September 2002 to March 2004 was retrieved from the MIPAS observations using the science-oriented data processor developed at the Institut fur Meteorologie und Klimaforschung (IMK), which is complemented by the component of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) treatment from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA). The IMK-IAA research product, different from the ESA operational product, is validated in this paper by comparison with a number of reference data sets. Individual HNO3 profiles of the IMK-IAA MIPAS show good agreement with those of the balloon-borne version of MIPAS (MIPAS-B) and the infrared spectrometer MkIV, with small differences of less than 0.5 ppbv throughout the entire altitude range up to about 38 km, and below 0.2 ppbv above 30 km. However, the degree of consistency is largely affected by their temporal and spatial coincidence, and differences of 1 to 2 ppbv may be observed between 22 and 26 km at high latitudes near the vortex boundary, due to large horizontal inhomogeneity of HNO(3). Statistical comparisons of MIPAS IMK-IAA HNO(3) VMRs with respect to those of satellite measurements of Odin/SMR, ILAS-II, ACE-FTS, as well as the MIPAS ESA product show good consistency. The mean differences are generally +/- 0.5 ppbv and standard deviations of the differences are of 0.5 to 1.5 ppbv. The maximum differences are 2.0 ppbv around 20 to 25 km. This gives confidence in the general reliability of MIPAS HNO(3) VMR data and the other three satellite data sets.
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| 4. |
- Glatthor, N., et al.
(författare)
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Retrieval of stratospheric ozone profiles from MIPAS/ENVISAT limb emission spectra : a sensitivity study
- 2006
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Ingår i: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 6:10, s. 2767-2781
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the dependence of ozone volume mixing ratio profiles, retrieved from limb emission infrared spectra of the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS), on different retrieval setups such as the treatment of the background continuum, cloud filtering, spectral regions used for analysis and a series of further more technical parameter choices. The purpose of this investigation is to better understand the error sources of the ozone retrieval, to optimize the current retrieval setup and to document changes in the data versions. It was shown that the cloud clearing technique used so far (cloud index 1.8) does not reliably exclude all cloud-contaminated spectra from analysis. Through analysis of spectra calculated for cloudy atmospheres we found that the cloud index should be increased to a value of 3.0 or higher. Further, it was found that assignment of a common background continuum to adjacent microwindows within 5 cm−1 is advantageous, because it sufficiently represents the continuum emission by aerosols, clouds and gases as reported in the literature, and is computationally more efficient. For ozone retrieval we use ozone lines from MIPAS band A (685–970 cm−1) and band AB (1020–1170 cm−1) as well. Therefore we checked ozone retrievals with lines from bands A or AB only for a systematic difference. Such a difference was indeed found and could, to a major part, be attributed to the spectroscopic data used in these two bands, and to a minor part to neglection of modelling of non-local thermodynamic (non-LTE) emissions. Another potential explanation, a bias in the radiance calibration of level-1B spectra of bands A and AB, could largely be ruled out by correlation analysis and inspection of broadband spectra. Further upgrades in the ozone retrieval consist of application of an all-zero a-priori profile and a weaker regularization. Finally, the ozone distribution obtained with the new retrieval setup (data versions V3o_O3_7) was compared to the data version used before (V2_O3_2). Differences are smaller than $\pm$0.4 ppmv in the altitude region 15–50 km. Further, differences to ozone measured by the HALogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) on the Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite (UARS) are partly reduced with the new MIPAS data version.
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| 5. |
- Stiller, G.P., et al.
(författare)
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Global distribution of mean age of stratospheric air from MIPAS SF6 measurements
- 2008
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Ingår i: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 8:3, s. 677-695
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Global distributions of profiles of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) have been retrieved from limb emission spectra recorded by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) on Envisat covering the period September 2002 to March 2004. Individual SF6 profiles have a precision of 0.5 pptv below 25 km altitude and a vertical resolution of 4–6 km up to 35 km altitude. These data have been validated versus in situ observations obtained during balloon flights of a cryogenic whole-air sampler. For the tropical troposphere a trend of 0.230±0.008 pptv/yr has been derived from the MIPAS data, which is in excellent agreement with the trend from ground-based flask and in situ measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Earth System Research Laboratory, Global Monitoring Division. For the data set currently available, based on at least three days of data per month, monthly 5° latitude mean values have a 1σ standard error of 1%. From the global SF6 distributions, global daily and monthly distributions of the apparent mean age of air are inferred by application of the tropical tropospheric trend derived from MIPAS data. The inferred mean ages are provided for the full globe up to 90° N/S, and have a 1σ standard error of 0.25 yr. They range between 0 (near the tropical tropopause) and 7 years (except for situations of mesospheric intrusions) and agree well with earlier observations. The seasonal variation of the mean age of stratospheric air indicates episodes of severe intrusion of mesospheric air during each Northern and Southern polar winter observed, long-lasting remnants of old, subsided polar winter air over the spring and summer poles, and a rather short period of mixing with midlatitude air and/or upward transport during fall in October/November (NH) and April/May (SH), respectively, with small latitudinal gradients, immediately before the new polar vortex starts to form. The mean age distributions further confirm that SF6 is destroyed in the mesosphere to a considerable degree. Model calculations with the Karlsruhe simulation model of the middle atmosphere (KASIMA) chemical transport model agree well with observed global distributions of the mean age only if the SF6 sink reactions in the mesosphere are included in the model.
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