Articles | Volume 10, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1511-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1511-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
21 Apr 2017
Research article |
| 21 Apr 2017
Merged ozone profiles from four MIPAS processors
Alexandra Laeng
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Thomas von Clarmann
Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Gabriele Stiller
Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Bianca Maria Dinelli
ISAC-CNR, Bologna, Italy
Anu Dudhia
Earth Observation Data Group, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
Piera Raspollini
IFAC-CNR, Florence, Italy
Norbert Glatthor
Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Udo Grabowski
Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Viktoria Sofieva
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Lucien Froidevaux
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
Kaley A. Walker
University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Claus Zehner
ESA ESRIN, Frascati, Italy
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Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Stefan Bender, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, and Manuel López-Puertas
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4116, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4116, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
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We present the global distributions of the trace gases HNO3, ClONO2, HNO4, N2O5, and NOy, the total reactive nitrogen (constructed from [HNO3] + [ClONO2] + [HNO4] + 2x[N2O5] + [NO] + [NO2]), all derived from the latest spectral version, V8.03, of MIPAS/Envisat spectra. The data set covers the period of July 2002 to April 2012, with global day and night coverage from 6 to 60 km altitude. An additional data product, made for immediate comparison to atmospheric model simulations, is also presented.
Monika E. Szelag, Viktoria F. Sofieva, Edward Malina, Pekka T. Verronen, Michelle L. Santee, Manuel López-Puertas, Bernd Funke, Gabriele Stiller, Alexandra Laeng, Kaley A. Walker, Patrick E. Sheese, Mark E. Hervig, and Benjamin T. Marshall
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We present a new global dataset of ozone profiles in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, created by combining several satellite measurements covering more than three decades. Our results show that ozone is recovering in the stratosphere but decreasing in the mesosphere, with the strongest declines near the mesopause. This dataset provides a valuable resource for investigating long-term changes, improving model performance, and addressing an observational gap in the upper atmosphere.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Alexandra Laeng, Thomas von Clarmann, Gabriele Stiller, Michael Kiefer, Johanna Tamminen, Alexey Rozanov, Carlo Arosio, Nathaniel Livesey, Robert Damadeo, Patrick Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, Doug Degenstein, Daniel Zawada, Natalya A. Kramarova, and Arno Keppens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 1837–1852, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1837-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1837-2026, 2026
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For satellite measurements of atmospheric composition, the random uncertainty estimates provided by retrieval algorithms might be imperfect due to various approximations used in the retrievals or presence of unknown error sources. This paper presents an overview of the methods used for validation of random uncertainty estimates. All methods discussed in this study are categorized, and assumptions and limitations of each method are discussed.
Norbert Glatthor, Thomas von Clarmann, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Gabriele P. Stiller, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Manuel López-Puertas, Oliver Kirner, and Michelle L. Santee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 629–657, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-629-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-629-2026, 2026
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We present a global climatology of Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) version 8 chlorine monoxide (ClO), retrieved from spaceborne observations between 2002 and 2012. Due to an improved retrieval setup, the high bias and poor vertical resolution of upper stratospheric ClO, which had affected the previous V5 data set, has been removed. Comparisons with ClO observations of the Microwave Limb Sounder generally show good agreement. Differences can be explained by simulations with an atmospheric chemistry model.
Sergey Khaykin, Slimane Bekki, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Michael D. Fromm, Philippe Goloub, Qiaoyun Hu, Béatrice Josse, Alexandra Laeng, Mehdi Meziane, David A. Peterson, Sophie Pelletier, and Valérie Thouret
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In 2023, massive wildfires in Canada injected huge amounts of smoke into the atmosphere. Surprisingly, despite their intensity, the smoke did not rise very high but lingered at flight cruising altitudes, causing widespread pollution. This study shows how two different pathways lifted smoke into the lower stratosphere and reveals new insights into how wildfires affect air quality and climate, challenging what we thought we knew about fire and atmospheric impacts.
Norbert Glatthor, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Udo Grabowski, Michael Höpfner, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Manuel López-Puertas, and Gabriele P. Stiller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2849–2871, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2849-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2849-2024, 2024
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We present global atmospheric methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) distributions retrieved from measurements of the MIPAS instrument on board the Environmental Satellite (Envisat) during 2002 to 2012. Monitoring of these gases is of scientific interest because both of them are strong greenhouse gases. We analyze the latest, improved version of calibrated MIPAS measurements. Further, we apply a new retrieval scheme leading to an improved CH4 and N2O data product .
Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, and Manuel López-Puertas
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1759–1789, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1759-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1759-2024, 2024
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CFC-11, CFC-12, and HCFC-22 contribute to the depletion of ozone and are potent greenhouse gases. They have been banned by the Montreal protocol. With MIPAS on Envisat the atmospheric composition could be observed between 2002 and 2012. We present here the retrieval of their atmospheric distributions for the final data version 8. We characterise the derived data by their error budget and their spatial resolution. An additional representation for direct comparison to models is also provided.
Manuel López-Puertas, Maya García-Comas, Bernd Funke, Thomas von Clarmann, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, and Gabriele P. Stiller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5609–5645, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5609-2023, 2023
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This paper describes a new version (V8) of ozone data from MIPAS middle-atmosphere spectra. The dataset comprises high-quality ozone profiles from 20 to 100 km, with pole-to-pole latitude coverage for the day- and nighttime, spanning 2005 until 2012. An exhaustive treatment of errors has been performed. Compared to other satellite instruments, MIPAS ozone shows a positive bias of 5 %–8 % below 70 km. In the upper mesosphere, this new version agrees much better than previous ones (within 10 %).
Monali Borthakur, Miriam Sinnhuber, Alexandra Laeng, Thomas Reddmann, Peter Braesicke, Gabriele Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Ilya Usoskin, Jan Maik Wissing, and Olesya Yakovchuk
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12985–13013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12985-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12985-2023, 2023
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Reduced ozone levels resulting from ozone depletion mean more exposure to UV radiation, which has various effects on human health. We analysed solar events to see what influence it has on the chemistry of Earth's atmosphere and how this atmospheric chemistry change can affect the ozone. To do this, we used an atmospheric model considering only chemistry and compared it with satellite data. The focus was mainly on the contribution of chlorine, and we found about 10 %–20 % ozone loss due to that.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Monika Szelag, Johanna Tamminen, Carlo Arosio, Alexei Rozanov, Mark Weber, Doug Degenstein, Adam Bourassa, Daniel Zawada, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Kaley A. Walker, Patrick Sheese, Daan Hubert, Michel van Roozendael, Christian Retscher, Robert Damadeo, and Jerry D. Lumpe
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The paper presents the updated SAGE-CCI-OMPS+ climate data record of monthly zonal mean ozone profiles. This dataset covers the stratosphere and combines measurements by nine limb and occultation satellite instruments (SAGE II, OSIRIS, MIPAS, SCIAMACHY, GOMOS, ACE-FTS, OMPS-LP, POAM III, and SAGE III/ISS). The update includes new versions of MIPAS, ACE-FTS, and OSIRIS datasets and introduces data from additional sensors (POAM III and SAGE III/ISS) and retrieval processors (OMPS-LP).
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Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1443–1460, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1443-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1443-2023, 2023
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A new ozone data set, derived from radiation measurements of the space-borne instrument MIPAS, is presented. It consists of more than 2 million single ozone profiles from 2002–2012, covering virtually all latitudes and altitudes between 5 and 70 km. Progress in data calibration and processing methods allowed for significant improvement of the data quality, compared to previous data versions. Hence, the data set will help to better understand e.g. the time evolution of ozone in the stratosphere.
Carlo Arosio, Alexei Rozanov, Victor Gorshelev, Alexandra Laeng, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5949–5967, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5949-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5949-2022, 2022
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This paper characterizes the uncertainties affecting the ozone profiles retrieved at the University of Bremen through OMPS limb satellite observations. An accurate knowledge of the uncertainties is relevant for the validation of the product and to correctly interpret the retrieval results. We investigate several sources of uncertainties, estimate a total random and systematic component, and verify the consistency of the combined OMPS-MLS total uncertainty.
Alexandra Laeng, Thomas von Clarmann, Quentin Errera, Udo Grabowski, and Shawn Honomichl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2407–2416, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2407-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2407-2022, 2022
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In validation exercises, a universal excuse used to explain the residual discrepancy between the data is the natural atmospheric variability due to imperfect co-locations. This work is the first attempt to quantify this atmospheric variability for a large sample of atmospheric constituents and to provide the user with a tool to substract the natural atmospheric variability portion from the residual variability.
Zhipeng Qu, Cuong Nguyen, Paloma Borque, Alexei Korolev, Howard W. Barker, Keyvan Ranjbar, Lei Liu, Zen Mariani, Meriem Kacimi, Melissa Cholette, Ivan Heckman, Kenny Bala, Natalia Bliankinshtein, Leonid Nichman, Benjamin Riot-Bretêcher, Yi Huang, Jason N. S. Cole, Raphaël Peroni, Stephen Holden, Robert Reed, Robert Crawford, Daniel Michelson, Eve Bigras, Michael Wheeler, John Gyakum, Jason A. Milbrandt, Julie M. Thériault, Kaley A. Walker, Mengistu Wolde, Jean-Pierre Blanchet, Yann Blanchard, Jonas von Bismark, Rob Koopman, Montserrat Piñol Solé, Bernat Puigdomènech Treserras, Robin J. Hogan, and Shannon L. Mason
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-5347, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-5347, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
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The ECALOT campaign brought together aircraft and ground-based observations in the Ottawa–Montreal region to help evaluate the European Space Agency’s EarthCARE satellite, which studies clouds, aerosols, radiation, and their interactions. By comparing satellite measurements with multi-platform remote-sensing and in situ observations collected during the campaign, ECALOT provides an integrated approach to evaluating EarthCARE products at different stages of the data processing chain.
Florian Voet, Felix Ploeger, Johannes C. Laube, Laura N. Saunders, Patrick E. Sheese, Attahir Mainika, Peter Preusse, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Kaley A. Walker, Susann Tegtmeier, and Michaela Imelda Hegglin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4647, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4647, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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We developed a better way to estimate how long air remains in the upper atmosphere, because satellite estimates can be too noisy to show long-term changes. Using measurements of several gases from a satellite, we found that combining them cuts uncertainty by about half and gives estimates with about 0.3 years of average uncertainty. Results for 2004–2021 show older air in the Northern Hemisphere and younger air in the tropics and Southern Hemisphere, suggesting slower circulation in the north.
Laura N. Saunders, Kaley A. Walker, Gabriele P. Stiller, Piera Raspollini, Luis F. Millán, Marco Gai, Chris D. Boone, John Gille, Norbert Glatthor, Armin Kleinboehl, Anne Kleinert, Alyn Lambert, Donal Murtaugh, Patrick E. Sheese, Geoffrey C. Toon, and Gerald Wetzel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4651, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4651, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
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We present a comprehensive evaluation of nitrous oxide (N2O) measurements taken during the 2002–2024 period from five limb-viewing satellite instruments: ACE-FTS, HIRDLS, MIPAS, Aura-MLS, and SMR. Coincident measurements are compared between satellite instruments and with independent reference data from balloon-borne instruments. We show that ACE-FTS, MIPAS, and SMR constitute an excellent 23-year record of N2O measurements that could be used to create an ESA-funded merged dataset in future.
Wolfgang Woiwode, Bärbel Vogel, Valentin Lauther, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Jeremy Harrison, Sören Johansson, Jörn Ungermann, Peter Braesicke, Markus Dick, Andreas Engel, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Norbert Glatthor, Thomas Gulde, Michael Höpfner, Markus Jesswein, Jan Kaumanns, Timo Keber, Anne Kleinert, Erik Kretschmer, Guido Maucher, Tom Neubert, Hans Nordmeyer, Christof Piesch, Felix Plöger, Peter Preusse, Markus Retzlaff, Sebastian Rhode, Heinz Rongen, Georg Schardt, Tanja Schuck, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Johannes Strobel, Franziska Trinkl, Ronja Van Luijt, Stefan Versick, C. Michael Volk, Gerald Wetzel, Peter Hoor, and Martin Riese
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3271, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3271, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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Filaments of CH2Cl2-rich air are revealed by airborne infrared limb-imaging observations in late summer 2023 above the North Pacific, Canada and Alaska and traced back to the Asian Summer Monsoon region. Involving new spectroscopic data, high CH2Cl2 levels were retrieved in the troposphere and moderate enhancements also in air masses with characteristics of the lowermost stratosphere. Mesoscale filaments are shown to transport substantial amounts of CH2Cl2 across the North Pacific.
Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Stefan Bender, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, and Manuel López-Puertas
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4116, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4116, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
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We present the global distributions of the trace gases HNO3, ClONO2, HNO4, N2O5, and NOy, the total reactive nitrogen (constructed from [HNO3] + [ClONO2] + [HNO4] + 2x[N2O5] + [NO] + [NO2]), all derived from the latest spectral version, V8.03, of MIPAS/Envisat spectra. The data set covers the period of July 2002 to April 2012, with global day and night coverage from 6 to 60 km altitude. An additional data product, made for immediate comparison to atmospheric model simulations, is also presented.
Caroline Jonas, Corinne Vigouroux, Bavo Langerock, Robin Björklund, Anne Boynard, Thomas Carlund, Martine De Mazière, Peter Effertz, Quentin Errera, Matthias M. Frey, José Granville, James W. Hannigan, Arno Keppens, Nis Jepsen, Rigel Kivi, Norrie Lyall, Mathias Palm, Maxime Prignon, Viktoria F. Sofieva, Kimberly Strong, Tove Svendby, David Tarasick, Laura Thölix, Roeland Van Malderen, Yana Virolainen, Sibylle von Löwis, and Xiaoyi Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 8089–8124, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8089-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8089-2026, 2026
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We study the evolution of ozone in the Arctic over the 2000–2024 period in the stratosphere (about 10 to 50 km) to assess the expected recovery of the ozone layer following the diminution of ozone-depleting substances. We merge ground-based data sets within spatially coherent regions to reduce uncertainties and we obtain positive trends for the total column everywhere in the Arctic and for the middle and upper stratosphere over Canada, but no significant trends in the lower stratosphere.
Monika E. Szelag, Viktoria F. Sofieva, Edward Malina, Pekka T. Verronen, Michelle L. Santee, Manuel López-Puertas, Bernd Funke, Gabriele Stiller, Alexandra Laeng, Kaley A. Walker, Patrick E. Sheese, Mark E. Hervig, and Benjamin T. Marshall
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 7503–7522, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-7503-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-7503-2026, 2026
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We present a new global dataset of ozone profiles in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, created by combining several satellite measurements covering more than three decades. Our results show that ozone is recovering in the stratosphere but decreasing in the mesosphere, with the strongest declines near the mesopause. This dataset provides a valuable resource for investigating long-term changes, improving model performance, and addressing an observational gap in the upper atmosphere.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Monika E. Szelag, Natalya A. Kramarova, Robert Damadeo, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Corinne Vigouroux, Eliane Maillard Barras, Daniel Zawada, Kleareti Tourpali, Stacey M. Frith, Jeannette D. Wild, Sean M. Davis, Carlo Arosio, Mark Weber, Alexei Rozanov, Brian Auffarth, Lucien Froidevaux, Ryan Fuller, Doug Degenstein, Kimberlee Dube, Peter Effertz, Thierry Leblanc, Gérard Ancellet, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Glen McConville, Richard Querel, Dan Smale, Marie-Renee DeBacker, Emmanuel Mahieu, and Ralf Sussmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 7387–7405, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-7387-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-7387-2026, 2026
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We present an updated evaluation of stratospheric ozone profile trends in the 60°S–60°N latitude range using long-term ground-based and satellite climate data records, as well as simulations by chemistry-climate models. Analyses confirm the statistically significant positive ozone trends in the upper stratosphere of ~1–3 % decade-1. The trends are close to zero in the middle stratosphere, and mostly negative in the lower stratosphere, but they are not statistically significant.
Brian Auffarth, Mark Weber, Alexei Rozanov, Carlo Arosio, John P. Burrows, Melanie Coldewey-Egbers, Sean M. Davis, Doug Degenstein, Kimberlee Dubé, Stacey M. Frith, Lucien Froidevaux, Diego Loyola, Vitali E. Fioletov, Viktoria Sofieva, Ronald van der A, and Jeannette D. Wild
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2576, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2576, 2026
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This study examines the trends of stratospheric and total ozone between 2000 and 2024, using long-term satellite datasets. Our results show positive trends in the upper stratosphere and a strong ozone recovery in the Southern Hemisphere, while changes in lower altitudes remain mostly small. The total and stratospheric trends show very similar results, indicating that tropospheric ozone contributes little to total column changes, while the stratospheric column is the dominant driver.
Martina Taddia, Federico Fabiano, Stefano Della Fera, Elisa Castelli, and Bianca Maria Dinelli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 5293–5311, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-5293-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-5293-2026, 2026
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The evolution of the climate system is strictly related to its radiative response to changes in surface and atmospheric processes. Through the analysis of the Earth’s emission spectrum measured by satellite instruments, we show that the radiative response to El-Niño Southern Oscillation is wavenumber-dependent, highlighting the role of key climate variables. This makes this analysis particularly suitable for climate models evaluations.
Marta Abalos, Thomas Birner, Andreas Chrysanthou, Sean Davis, Alvaro de la Cámara, Sandip Dhomse, Hella Garny, Michaela I. Hegglin, Daan Hubert, Oksana Ivaniha, James Keeble, Marianna Linz, Daniele Minganti, Jessica Neu, David Plummer, Laura Saunders, Kasturi Shah, Gabriele Stiller, Kleareti Tourpali, Darryn Waugh, Nathan Luke Abraham, Hideharu Akiyoshi, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Patrick Jöckel, Béatrice Josse, Marion Marchand, Patrick Martineau, Olaf Morgenstern, Timofei Sukhodolov, Shingo Watanabe, and Yousuke Yamashita
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 5249–5291, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-5249-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-5249-2026, 2026
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Accurate representation of stratospheric transport in Chemistry-Climate Models is essential for reliable climate projections. This study evaluates three generations of models using observational data and reanalyses, identifying persistent biases and their potential causes. Some biases persist or even worsen in newer models. These findings highlight key limitations and inform efforts to improve models and advance understanding through process-based studies and enhanced observations.
Quentin Errera, Marc Op de beeck, Stefan Bender, Johannes Flemming, Bernd Funke, Alex Hoffmann, Michael Höpfner, Nathaniel Livesey, Gabriele Poli, Didier Pieroux, Piera Raspollini, and Björn-Martin Sinnhuber
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 2601–2620, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2601-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2601-2026, 2026
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The Changing Atmosphere Infra-Red Tomography Explorer (CAIRT) is a satellite mission concept developed to observe, among other, the gradient of ozone and water vapour in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere where these species have their largest radiative impact. By simulating CAIRT observations and measuring their constrain on an atmospheric model using data assimilation, this study shows that CAIRT specifications are adequate to fulfil this objective.
Ariana Elena Castillo, Marianna Linz, Eric Ray, Laura N. Saunders, Kaley A. Walker, Gabriele P. Stiller, Todd A. Mooring, and Stephen Bourguet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1236, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1236, 2026
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In the stratosphere, transport strongly impacts the distribution of long-lived trace gases, and age of air is a measure of transport times in the stratosphere. We present two datasets that capture the structure and seasonality of stratospheric transport in both hemispheres: (1) latitude-varying empirical relationships of tracers to calculate a (2) 7-year timeseries of age of air. We lay groundwork for a multidecade timeseries of age to understand long-term transport in a warming climate.
Jiansheng Zou, C. Thomas McElroy, James R. Drummond, Kaley A. Walker, and Paul S. Jeffery
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 1991–2008, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1991-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1991-2026, 2026
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Two decades of operations and performance for the MAESTRO instrument are reviewed. Topics addressed include: (a) occultation measurement schemes, (b) MAESTRO's field of view (FOV) on the Sun, (c) FOV changes on the solar disk during occultations and their impact on calculated transmittances, (d) the relation between the MAESTRO and ACE-FTS FOVs, (e) verification of wavelength assignment, and how it has been affected by thermal environment changes, and (f) the determination of MAESTRO tangent heights.
Meghan Brehon, Susann Tegtmeier, Adam Bourassa, Sean M. Davis, Udo Grabowski, Tobias Kerzenmacher, and Gabriele Stiller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 3743–3764, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-3743-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-3743-2026, 2026
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We used observations of water vapour to estimate vertical transport rates in the tropical stratosphere for 1995-2020 and analyze stratospheric variability. Our results find good agreement between our observation-based estimates and reanalysis upwelling and reveal that the variability is mainly driven by the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) with a clear signal in the upwelling time series coinciding with the recent QBO disruptions of 2015/16 and 2019/20.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Alexandra Laeng, Thomas von Clarmann, Gabriele Stiller, Michael Kiefer, Johanna Tamminen, Alexey Rozanov, Carlo Arosio, Nathaniel Livesey, Robert Damadeo, Patrick Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, Doug Degenstein, Daniel Zawada, Natalya A. Kramarova, and Arno Keppens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 1837–1852, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1837-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1837-2026, 2026
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For satellite measurements of atmospheric composition, the random uncertainty estimates provided by retrieval algorithms might be imperfect due to various approximations used in the retrievals or presence of unknown error sources. This paper presents an overview of the methods used for validation of random uncertainty estimates. All methods discussed in this study are categorized, and assumptions and limitations of each method are discussed.
Sean Davis, William Ball, Yue Jia, Gabriel Chiodo, Justin Alsing, James Keeble, Hideharu Akiyoshi, Carlo Arosio, Ewa Bednarz, Andreas Chrysanthou, Melanie Coldewey-Egbers, Robert Damadeo, Sandip Dhomse, Mohamadou Diallo, Simone Dietmuller, Roland Eichinger, Stacey Frith, Birgit Hassler, Michaela Hegglin, Daan Hubert, Patrick Jöckel, Béatrice Josse, Natalya Kramarova, Diego Loyola, Eliane Maillard Barras, Marion Marchand, Olaf Morgenstern, David Plummer, Robert Portmann, Karen Rosenlof, Alexei Rozanov, Viktoria Sofieva, Johannes Staehelin, Timofei Sukhodolov, Kleareti Tourpali, Ronald Van der A, H. J. Ray Wang, Krzysztof Wargan, Shingo Watanabe, Mark Weber, Jeannette Wild, Yousuke Yamashita, and Jerry Ziemke
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-532, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-532, 2026
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This study investigates how tropical ozone levels have changed since 2000 in chemistry climate models and satellite observations to determine how well they agree with one another, and to see if current trends can help predict future levels. At some, satellite records disagree significantly on the magnitude of ozone changes. The study shows a connection between recent ozone trends and future ozone levels, suggesting that satellite measurements could help constrain future ozone changes.
Norbert Glatthor, Thomas von Clarmann, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Gabriele P. Stiller, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Manuel López-Puertas, Oliver Kirner, and Michelle L. Santee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 629–657, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-629-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-629-2026, 2026
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We present a global climatology of Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) version 8 chlorine monoxide (ClO), retrieved from spaceborne observations between 2002 and 2012. Due to an improved retrieval setup, the high bias and poor vertical resolution of upper stratospheric ClO, which had affected the previous V5 data set, has been removed. Comparisons with ClO observations of the Microwave Limb Sounder generally show good agreement. Differences can be explained by simulations with an atmospheric chemistry model.
Liliana Guidetti, Erika Brattich, Simone Ceccherini, Michaela I. Hegglin, Piera Raspollini, Cecilia Tirelli, Nicola Zoppetti, and Ugo Cortesi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 167–184, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-167-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-167-2026, 2026
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The Complete Data Fusion algorithm is applied to observations from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer to generate and validate a new ozone dataset against ozone soundings across multiple latitudes. The fusion propagates stratospheric limb information into the troposphere. The dataset shows increased information content and lower uncertainty, improving the study of stratosphere–troposphere ozone intrusions.
Sarah Vervalcke, Quentin Errera, Roland Eichinger, Thomas Reddmann, Simon Chabrillat, Marc Op de beeck, Gabriele Stiller, and Emmanuel Mahieu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 391–409, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-391-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-391-2026, 2026
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This study presents three simulations of atmospheric chemistry with the Belgian Assimilation System for Chemical Observations chemistry transport model, driven by different meteorological data sets. Newly implemented SF6 chemistry enables stratospheric transport studies. Results agree with satellite observations. The derived lifetimes of six trace gases agree with the literature, but SF6 shows larger sensitivity to the choice of meteorology. The lifetime of SF6 ranges from 1900 to 2600 years.
Paul Konopka, Felix Ploeger, Francesco D'Amato, Teresa Campos, Marc von Hobe, Shawn B. Honomichl, Peter Hoor, Laura L. Pan, Michelle L. Santee, Silvia Viciani, Kaley A. Walker, and Michaela I. Hegglin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 17973–17996, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17973-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17973-2025, 2025
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We present an improved version of the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS-3.0), which better represents transport from the lower atmosphere to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. By refining grid resolution and improving convection representation, the model more accurately simulates carbon monoxide transport. Comparisons with satellite and in situ observations highlight its ability to capture seasonal variations and improve our understanding of atmospheric transport.
Arno Keppens, Daan Hubert, José Granville, Oindrila Nath, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Catherine Wespes, Pierre-François Coheur, Cathy Clerbaux, Anne Boynard, Richard Siddans, Barry Latter, Brian Kerridge, Serena Di Pede, Pepijn Veefkind, Juan Cuesta, Gaelle Dufour, Klaus-Peter Heue, Melanie Coldewey-Egbers, Diego Loyola, Andrea Orfanoz-Cheuquelaf, Swathi Maratt Satheesan, Kai-Uwe Eichmann, Alexei Rozanov, Viktoria F. Sofieva, Jerald R. Ziemke, Antje Inness, Roeland Van Malderen, and Lars Hoffmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 6893–6916, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-6893-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-6893-2025, 2025
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The first Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR) encountered discrepancies between several satellite sensors’ estimates of the distribution and change of ozone in the free troposphere. Therefore, contributing to the second TOAR, we harmonise as much as possible the observational perspective of sixteen tropospheric ozone products from satellites. This only partially accounts for the observed discrepancies, with a reduction of 10–40 % of the inter-product dispersion upon harmonisation.
Sujan Khanal, Matthew Toohey, Adam Bourassa, C. Thomas McElroy, Christopher Sioris, and Kaley A. Walker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 6835–6852, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-6835-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-6835-2025, 2025
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Measurements of stratospheric aerosol from the Measurement of Aerosol Extinction in the Stratosphere and Troposphere Retrieved by Occultation (MAESTRO) instrument are compared to other measurements to assess their scientific value. We find that medians of MAESTRO measurements binned by month and latitude show reasonable correlation with other data sets, with notable increases after volcanic eruptions, and that biases in the data can be alleviated through a simple correction technique. Used with care, MAESTRO aerosol measurements provide information that can complement other data sets.
Sergey Khaykin, Slimane Bekki, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Michael D. Fromm, Philippe Goloub, Qiaoyun Hu, Béatrice Josse, Alexandra Laeng, Mehdi Meziane, David A. Peterson, Sophie Pelletier, and Valérie Thouret
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 14551–14571, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14551-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14551-2025, 2025
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In 2023, massive wildfires in Canada injected huge amounts of smoke into the atmosphere. Surprisingly, despite their intensity, the smoke did not rise very high but lingered at flight cruising altitudes, causing widespread pollution. This study shows how two different pathways lifted smoke into the lower stratosphere and reveals new insights into how wildfires affect air quality and climate, challenging what we thought we knew about fire and atmospheric impacts.
Cecilia Tirelli, Simone Ceccherini, Samuele Del Bianco, Bernd Funke, Michael Höpfner, Ugo Cortesi, and Piera Raspollini
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 5619–5636, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5619-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5619-2025, 2025
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The Complete Data Fusion is an a posteriori method used to combine remote sensing products from independent observations of the same or proximate air masses. In this study, we extend the algorithm’s applicability to two-dimensional products, testing it with simulated ozone datasets from nadir and limb measurements. Our results show that the exploitation of the tomographic capabilities of future atmospheric sensors maximizes the information extracted from complementary datasets.
Carlo Arosio, Viktoria Sofieva, Andrea Orfanoz-Cheuquelaf, Alexei Rozanov, Klaus-Peter Heue, Diego Loyola, Edward Malina, Ryan M. Stauffer, David Tarasick, Roeland Van Malderen, Jerry R. Ziemke, and Mark Weber
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 3247–3265, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3247-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3247-2025, 2025
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Tropospheric ozone affects air quality and climate, being a pollutant and a greenhouse gas. We analyze satellite data of tropospheric ozone columns obtained by combining two types of observations: one providing stratospheric and the other total ozone. We compare common climatological features and study the influence of the tropopause (troposphere to stratosphere boundary) on the results. We also examine trends over the last 20 years and compare satellite data with ozonesondes to identify drifts.
Patrick E. Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, Chris D. Boone, and David A. Plummer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5199–5213, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5199-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5199-2025, 2025
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Observations from Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment–Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) are used to examine global stratospheric water vapour trends for 2004–2021. The satellite measurements are used to quantify trend contributions arising from changes in tropical tropopause temperatures, general circulation patterns, and methane concentrations. While most of the observed trends can be explained by these changes, there remains an unaccounted-for and increasing source of water vapour in the lower mid-stratosphere at mid-latitudes, which is discussed.
Laura N. Saunders, Kaley A. Walker, Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Florian Haenel, Hella Garny, Harald Bönisch, Chris D. Boone, Ariana E. Castillo, Andreas Engel, Johannes C. Laube, Marianna Linz, Felix Ploeger, David A. Plummer, Eric A. Ray, and Patrick E. Sheese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4185–4209, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4185-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4185-2025, 2025
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We present a 17-year stratospheric age-of-air dataset derived from ACE-FTS satellite measurements of sulfur hexafluoride. This is the longest continuous, global, and vertically resolved age of air time series available to date. In this paper, we show that this dataset agrees well with age-of-air datasets based on measurements from other instruments. We also present trends in the midlatitude lower stratosphere that indicate changes in the global circulation that are predicted by climate models.
Florian Voet, Felix Ploeger, Johannes Laube, Peter Preusse, Paul Konopka, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Jörn Ungermann, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Michael Höpfner, Bernd Funke, Gerald Wetzel, Sören Johansson, Gabriele Stiller, Eric Ray, and Michaela I. Hegglin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3541–3565, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3541-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3541-2025, 2025
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This study refines estimates of the stratospheric “age of air”, a measure of how long air circulates in the stratosphere. By analyzing correlations between trace gases measurable by satellites, the research introduces a method that reduces uncertainties and detects small-scale atmospheric features. This improved understanding of stratospheric circulation is crucial for better climate models and predictions, enhancing our ability to assess the impacts of climate change on the atmosphere.
Paul S. Jeffery, James R. Drummond, C. Thomas McElroy, Kaley A. Walker, and Jiansheng Zou
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 569–602, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-569-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-569-2025, 2025
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The MAESTRO instrument has been monitoring ozone and NO2 since February 2004. A new version of these data products has recently been released; however, these new products must be validated against other datasets to ensure their validity. This study presents such an assessment, using measurements from 11 satellite instruments to characterize the new MAESTRO products. In the stratosphere, good agreement is found for ozone and acceptable agreement is found for NO2 with these other datasets.
Kimberlee Dubé, Susann Tegtmeier, Felix Ploeger, and Kaley A. Walker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1433–1447, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1433-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1433-2025, 2025
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The transport rate of air in the stratosphere has changed in response to human emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances. This transport rate can be approximated using measurements of long-lived trace gases. We use observations and model results to derive anomalies and trends in the mean rate of stratospheric air transport. We find that air in the Northern Hemisphere aged by up to 0.3 years per decade relative to air in the Southern Hemisphere over 2004–2017.
Norbert Glatthor, Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Sylvia Kellmann, and Andrea Linden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1175–1208, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1175-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1175-2025, 2025
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We present global upper-tropospheric distributions of the pollutants HCN, CO, C2H2, C2H6, PAN, and HCOOH, observed between 2002 and 2012 by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) on the Environmental Satellite (Envisat). By comparing the spatial distributions of their volume mixing ratios and by global correlation and regression analyses, we draw conclusions on their sources, such as biomass burning, anthropogenic sources, and biogenic release.
Jiansheng Zou, Kaley A. Walker, Patrick E. Sheese, Chris D. Boone, Ryan M. Stauffer, Anne M. Thompson, and David W. Tarasick
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6983–7005, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6983-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6983-2024, 2024
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Ozone measurements from the ACE-FTS satellite instrument have been compared to worldwide balloon-borne ozonesonde profiles using pairs of closely spaced profiles and monthly averaged profiles. ACE-FTS typically measures more ozone in the stratosphere by up to 10 %. The long-term stability of the ACE-FTS ozone data is good, exhibiting small (but non-significant) drifts of less than 3 % per decade in the stratosphere. Lower in the profiles, the calculated drifts are larger (up to 10 % per decade).
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Alexei Rozanov, Monika Szelag, John P. Burrows, Christian Retscher, Robert Damadeo, Doug Degenstein, Landon A. Rieger, and Adam Bourassa
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 5227–5241, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5227-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-5227-2024, 2024
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Climate-related studies need information about the distribution of stratospheric aerosols, which influence the energy balance of the Earth’s atmosphere. In this work, we present a merged dataset of vertically resolved stratospheric aerosol extinction coefficients, which is derived from data of six limb and occultation satellite instruments. The created aerosol climate record covers the period from October 1984 to December 2023. It can be used in various climate-related studies.
Sören Johansson, Michael Höpfner, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Norbert Glatthor, Thomas Gulde, Vincent Huijnen, Anne Kleinert, Erik Kretschmer, Guido Maucher, Tom Neubert, Hans Nordmeyer, Christof Piesch, Peter Preusse, Martin Riese, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Jörn Ungermann, Gerald Wetzel, and Wolfgang Woiwode
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8125–8138, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8125-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8125-2024, 2024
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We present airborne infrared limb sounding GLORIA measurements of ammonia (NH3) in the upper troposphere of air masses within the Asian monsoon and of those connected with biomass burning. Comparing CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) model data, we find that the model reproduces the measured enhanced NH3 within the Asian monsoon well but not that within biomass burning plumes, where no enhanced NH3 is measured in the upper troposphere but considerable amounts are simulated by CAMS.
Luis F. Millán, Peter Hoor, Michaela I. Hegglin, Gloria L. Manney, Harald Boenisch, Paul Jeffery, Daniel Kunkel, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Hao Ye, Thierry Leblanc, and Kaley Walker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7927–7959, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7927-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7927-2024, 2024
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In the Observed Composition Trends And Variability in the UTLS (OCTAV-UTLS) Stratosphere-troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate (SPARC) activity, we have mapped multiplatform ozone datasets into coordinate systems to systematically evaluate the influence of these coordinates on binned climatological variability. This effort unifies the work of studies that focused on individual coordinate system variability. Our goal was to create the most comprehensive assessment of this topic.
Arno Keppens, Serena Di Pede, Daan Hubert, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Pepijn Veefkind, Maarten Sneep, Johan De Haan, Mark ter Linden, Thierry Leblanc, Steven Compernolle, Tijl Verhoelst, José Granville, Oindrila Nath, Ann Mari Fjæraa, Ian Boyd, Sander Niemeijer, Roeland Van Malderen, Herman G. J. Smit, Valentin Duflot, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Bryan J. Johnson, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, David W. Tarasick, Debra E. Kollonige, Ryan M. Stauffer, Anne M. Thompson, Angelika Dehn, and Claus Zehner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3969–3993, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3969-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3969-2024, 2024
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The Sentinel-5P satellite operated by the European Space Agency has carried the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) around the Earth since October 2017. This mission also produces atmospheric ozone profile data which are described in detail for May 2018 to April 2023. Independent validation using ground-based reference measurements demonstrates that the operational ozone profile product mostly fully and at least partially complies with all mission requirements.
Robert P. Damadeo, Viktoria F. Sofieva, Alexei Rozanov, and Larry W. Thomason
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3669–3678, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3669-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3669-2024, 2024
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Comparing different aerosol data sets for scientific studies often requires converting aerosol extinction data between different wavelengths. A common approximation for the spectral behavior of aerosol is the Ångström formula; however, this introduces biases. Using measurements across many different wavelengths from a single instrument, we derive an empirical relationship to both characterize this bias and offer a correction for other studies that may employ this analysis approach.
Karen De Los Ríos, Paulina Ordoñez, Gabriele P. Stiller, Piera Raspollini, Marco Gai, Kaley A. Walker, Cristina Peña-Ortiz, and Luis Acosta
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3401–3418, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3401-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3401-2024, 2024
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This study examines newer versions of H2O and HDO retrievals from Envisat/MIPAS and SCISAT/ACE-FTS. Results reveal a better agreement in stratospheric H2O profiles than in HDO profiles. The H2O tape recorder signal is consistent across databases, but δD tape recorder composites show differences that impact the interpretation of water vapour transport. These findings enhance the need for intercomparisons to refine our insights.
Jin Ma, Linda M. J. Kooijmans, Norbert Glatthor, Stephen A. Montzka, Marc von Hobe, Thomas Röckmann, and Maarten C. Krol
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6047–6070, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6047-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6047-2024, 2024
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The global budget of atmospheric COS can be optimised by inverse modelling using TM5-4DVAR, with the co-constraints of NOAA surface observations and MIPAS satellite data. We found reduced COS biosphere uptake from inversions and improved land and ocean separation using MIPAS satellite data assimilation. Further improvements are expected from better quantification of COS ocean and biosphere fluxes.
Xin Yang, Kimberly Strong, Alison S. Criscitiello, Marta Santos-Garcia, Kristof Bognar, Xiaoyi Zhao, Pierre Fogal, Kaley A. Walker, Sara M. Morris, and Peter Effertz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5863–5886, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5863-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5863-2024, 2024
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This study uses snow samples collected from a Canadian high Arctic site, Eureka, to demonstrate that surface snow in early spring is a net sink of atmospheric bromine and nitrogen. Surface snow bromide and nitrate are significantly correlated, indicating the oxidation of reactive nitrogen is accelerated by reactive bromine. In addition, we show evidence that snow photochemical release of reactive bromine is very weak, and its emission flux is much smaller than the deposition flux of bromide.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Monika Szelag, Johanna Tamminen, Didier Fussen, Christine Bingen, Filip Vanhellemont, Nina Mateshvili, Alexei Rozanov, and Christine Pohl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3085–3101, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3085-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3085-2024, 2024
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We have developed the new multi-wavelength dataset of aerosol extinction profiles, which are retrieved from the averaged transmittance spectra by the Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars instrument aboard Envisat. The retrieved aerosol extinction profiles are provided in the altitude range 10–40 km at 400, 440, 452, 470, 500, 525, 550, 672 and 750 nm for the period 2002–2012. FMI-GOMOSaero aerosol profiles have improved quality; they are in good agreement with other datasets.
Norbert Glatthor, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Udo Grabowski, Michael Höpfner, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Manuel López-Puertas, and Gabriele P. Stiller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2849–2871, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2849-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2849-2024, 2024
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We present global atmospheric methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) distributions retrieved from measurements of the MIPAS instrument on board the Environmental Satellite (Envisat) during 2002 to 2012. Monitoring of these gases is of scientific interest because both of them are strong greenhouse gases. We analyze the latest, improved version of calibrated MIPAS measurements. Further, we apply a new retrieval scheme leading to an improved CH4 and N2O data product .
Felicia Kolonjari, Patrick E. Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, Chris D. Boone, David A. Plummer, Andreas Engel, Stephen A. Montzka, David E. Oram, Tanja Schuck, Gabriele P. Stiller, and Geoffrey C. Toon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2429–2449, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2429-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2429-2024, 2024
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The Canadian Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) satellite instrument is currently providing the only vertically resolved chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) measurements from space. This study assesses the most current ACE-FTS HCFC-22 data product in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, as well as modelled HCFC-22 from a 39-year run of the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (CMAM39) in the same region.
Hella Garny, Roland Eichinger, Johannes C. Laube, Eric A. Ray, Gabriele P. Stiller, Harald Bönisch, Laura Saunders, and Marianna Linz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4193–4215, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4193-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4193-2024, 2024
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Transport circulation in the stratosphere is important for the distribution of tracers, but its strength is hard to measure. Mean transport times can be inferred from observations of trace gases with certain properties, such as sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). However, this gas has a chemical sink in the high atmosphere, which can lead to substantial biases in inferred transport times. In this paper we present a method to correct mean transport times derived from SF6 for the effects of chemical sinks.
Paul S. Jeffery, James R. Drummond, Jiansheng Zou, and Kaley A. Walker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4253–4263, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4253-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4253-2024, 2024
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The MOPITT instrument has been monitoring carbon monoxide (CO) since March 2000. This dataset has been used for many applications; however, episodic emission events, which release large amounts of CO into the atmosphere, are a major source of uncertainty. This study presents a method for identifying these events by determining measurements that are unlikely to have typically arisen. The distribution and frequency of these flagged measurements in the MOPITT dataset are presented and discussed.
Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, and Manuel López-Puertas
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1759–1789, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1759-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1759-2024, 2024
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CFC-11, CFC-12, and HCFC-22 contribute to the depletion of ozone and are potent greenhouse gases. They have been banned by the Montreal protocol. With MIPAS on Envisat the atmospheric composition could be observed between 2002 and 2012. We present here the retrieval of their atmospheric distributions for the final data version 8. We characterise the derived data by their error budget and their spatial resolution. An additional representation for direct comparison to models is also provided.
Victoria A. Flood, Kimberly Strong, Cynthia H. Whaley, Kaley A. Walker, Thomas Blumenstock, James W. Hannigan, Johan Mellqvist, Justus Notholt, Mathias Palm, Amelie N. Röhling, Stephen Arnold, Stephen Beagley, Rong-You Chien, Jesper Christensen, Makoto Deushi, Srdjan Dobricic, Xinyi Dong, Joshua S. Fu, Michael Gauss, Wanmin Gong, Joakim Langner, Kathy S. Law, Louis Marelle, Tatsuo Onishi, Naga Oshima, David A. Plummer, Luca Pozzoli, Jean-Christophe Raut, Manu A. Thomas, Svetlana Tsyro, and Steven Turnock
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1079–1118, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1079-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1079-2024, 2024
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It is important to understand the composition of the Arctic atmosphere and how it is changing. Atmospheric models provide simulations that can inform policy. This study examines simulations of CH4, CO, and O3 by 11 models. Model performance is assessed by comparing results matched in space and time to measurements from five high-latitude ground-based infrared spectrometers. This work finds that models generally underpredict the concentrations of these gases in the Arctic troposphere.
Andrea Pazmiño, Florence Goutail, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Alain Hauchecorne, Jean-Pierre Pommereau, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Wuhu Feng, Franck Lefèvre, Audrey Lecouffe, Michel Van Roozendael, Nis Jepsen, Georg Hansen, Rigel Kivi, Kimberly Strong, and Kaley A. Walker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15655–15670, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15655-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15655-2023, 2023
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The vortex-averaged ozone loss over the last 3 decades is evaluated for both polar regions using the passive ozone tracer of the chemical transport model TOMCAT/SLIMCAT and total ozone observations from the SAOZ network and MSR2 reanalysis. Three metrics were developed to compute ozone trends since 2000. The study confirms the ozone recovery in the Antarctic and shows a potential sign of quantitative detection of ozone recovery in the Arctic that needs to be robustly confirmed in the future.
Manuel López-Puertas, Maya García-Comas, Bernd Funke, Thomas von Clarmann, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, and Gabriele P. Stiller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5609–5645, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5609-2023, 2023
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This paper describes a new version (V8) of ozone data from MIPAS middle-atmosphere spectra. The dataset comprises high-quality ozone profiles from 20 to 100 km, with pole-to-pole latitude coverage for the day- and nighttime, spanning 2005 until 2012. An exhaustive treatment of errors has been performed. Compared to other satellite instruments, MIPAS ozone shows a positive bias of 5 %–8 % below 70 km. In the upper mesosphere, this new version agrees much better than previous ones (within 10 %).
Maya García-Comas, Bernd Funke, Manuel López-Puertas, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Andrea Linden, Belén Martínez-Mondéjar, Gabriele P. Stiller, and Thomas von Clarmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5357–5386, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5357-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5357-2023, 2023
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We have released version 8 of MIPAS IMK–IAA temperatures and pointing information retrieved from MIPAS Middle and Upper Atmosphere mode version 8.03 calibrated spectra, covering 20–115 km altitude. We considered non-local thermodynamic equilibrium emission explicitly for each limb scan, essential to retrieve accurate temperatures above the mid-mesosphere. Comparisons of this temperature dataset with SABER measurements show excellent agreement, improving those of previous MIPAS versions.
Kimberlee Dubé, Susann Tegtmeier, Adam Bourassa, Daniel Zawada, Douglas Degenstein, Patrick E. Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, and William Randel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13283–13300, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13283-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13283-2023, 2023
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This paper presents a technique for understanding the causes of long-term changes in stratospheric composition. By using N2O as a proxy for stratospheric circulation in the model used to calculated trends, it is possible to separate the effects of dynamics and chemistry on observed trace gas trends. We find that observed HCl increases are due to changes in the stratospheric circulation, as are O3 decreases above 30 hPa in the Northern Hemisphere.
Monali Borthakur, Miriam Sinnhuber, Alexandra Laeng, Thomas Reddmann, Peter Braesicke, Gabriele Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Ilya Usoskin, Jan Maik Wissing, and Olesya Yakovchuk
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12985–13013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12985-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12985-2023, 2023
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Reduced ozone levels resulting from ozone depletion mean more exposure to UV radiation, which has various effects on human health. We analysed solar events to see what influence it has on the chemistry of Earth's atmosphere and how this atmospheric chemistry change can affect the ozone. To do this, we used an atmospheric model considering only chemistry and compared it with satellite data. The focus was mainly on the contribution of chlorine, and we found about 10 %–20 % ozone loss due to that.
Michael Kiefer, Dale F. Hurst, Gabriele P. Stiller, Stefan Lossow, Holger Vömel, John Anderson, Faiza Azam, Jean-Loup Bertaux, Laurent Blanot, Klaus Bramstedt, John P. Burrows, Robert Damadeo, Bianca Maria Dinelli, Patrick Eriksson, Maya García-Comas, John C. Gille, Mark Hervig, Yasuko Kasai, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Donal Murtagh, Gerald E. Nedoluha, Stefan Noël, Piera Raspollini, William G. Read, Karen H. Rosenlof, Alexei Rozanov, Christopher E. Sioris, Takafumi Sugita, Thomas von Clarmann, Kaley A. Walker, and Katja Weigel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4589–4642, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4589-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4589-2023, 2023
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We quantify biases and drifts (and their uncertainties) between the stratospheric water vapor measurement records of 15 satellite-based instruments (SATs, with 31 different retrievals) and balloon-borne frost point hygrometers (FPs) launched at 27 globally distributed stations. These comparisons of measurements during the period 2000–2016 are made using robust, consistent statistical methods. With some exceptions, the biases and drifts determined for most SAT–FP pairs are < 10 % and < 1 % yr−1.
Luis F. Millán, Gloria L. Manney, Harald Boenisch, Michaela I. Hegglin, Peter Hoor, Daniel Kunkel, Thierry Leblanc, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Kaley Walker, Krzysztof Wargan, and Andreas Zahn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2957–2988, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2957-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2957-2023, 2023
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The determination of atmospheric composition trends in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) is still highly uncertain. We present the creation of dynamical diagnostics to map several ozone datasets (ozonesondes, lidars, aircraft, and satellite measurements) in geophysically based coordinate systems. The diagnostics can also be used to analyze other greenhouse gases relevant to surface climate and UTLS chemistry.
Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Andrea Linden, Manuel López-Puertas, Gabriele P. Stiller, and Thomas von Clarmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2167–2196, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2167-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2167-2023, 2023
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New global nitric oxide (NO) volume-mixing-ratio and lower-thermospheric temperature data products, retrieved from Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) spectra with the IMK-IAA MIPAS data processor, have been released. The dataset covers the entire Envisat mission lifetime and includes retrieval results from all MIPAS observation modes. The data are based on ESA version 8 calibration and were processed using an improved retrieval approach.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Monika Szelag, Johanna Tamminen, Carlo Arosio, Alexei Rozanov, Mark Weber, Doug Degenstein, Adam Bourassa, Daniel Zawada, Michael Kiefer, Alexandra Laeng, Kaley A. Walker, Patrick Sheese, Daan Hubert, Michel van Roozendael, Christian Retscher, Robert Damadeo, and Jerry D. Lumpe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1881–1899, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1881-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1881-2023, 2023
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The paper presents the updated SAGE-CCI-OMPS+ climate data record of monthly zonal mean ozone profiles. This dataset covers the stratosphere and combines measurements by nine limb and occultation satellite instruments (SAGE II, OSIRIS, MIPAS, SCIAMACHY, GOMOS, ACE-FTS, OMPS-LP, POAM III, and SAGE III/ISS). The update includes new versions of MIPAS, ACE-FTS, and OSIRIS datasets and introduces data from additional sensors (POAM III and SAGE III/ISS) and retrieval processors (OMPS-LP).
Michael Kiefer, Thomas von Clarmann, Bernd Funke, Maya García-Comas, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Michael Höpfner, Sylvia Kellmann, Alexandra Laeng, Andrea Linden, Manuel López-Puertas, and Gabriele P. Stiller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1443–1460, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1443-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1443-2023, 2023
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A new ozone data set, derived from radiation measurements of the space-borne instrument MIPAS, is presented. It consists of more than 2 million single ozone profiles from 2002–2012, covering virtually all latitudes and altitudes between 5 and 70 km. Progress in data calibration and processing methods allowed for significant improvement of the data quality, compared to previous data versions. Hence, the data set will help to better understand e.g. the time evolution of ozone in the stratosphere.
Nasrin Mostafavi Pak, Jacob K. Hedelius, Sébastien Roche, Liz Cunningham, Bianca Baier, Colm Sweeney, Coleen Roehl, Joshua Laughner, Geoffrey Toon, Paul Wennberg, Harrison Parker, Colin Arrowsmith, Joseph Mendonca, Pierre Fogal, Tyler Wizenberg, Beatriz Herrera, Kimberly Strong, Kaley A. Walker, Felix Vogel, and Debra Wunch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1239–1261, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1239-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1239-2023, 2023
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Ground-based remote sensing instruments in the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) measure greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Consistency between TCCON measurements is crucial to accurately infer changes in atmospheric composition. We use portable remote sensing instruments (EM27/SUN) to evaluate biases between TCCON stations in North America. We also improve the retrievals of EM27/SUN instruments and evaluate the previous (GGG2014) and newest (GGG2020) retrieval algorithms.
Joshua L. Laughner, Sébastien Roche, Matthäus Kiel, Geoffrey C. Toon, Debra Wunch, Bianca C. Baier, Sébastien Biraud, Huilin Chen, Rigel Kivi, Thomas Laemmel, Kathryn McKain, Pierre-Yves Quéhé, Constantina Rousogenous, Britton B. Stephens, Kaley Walker, and Paul O. Wennberg
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1121–1146, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1121-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1121-2023, 2023
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Observations using sunlight to measure surface-to-space total column of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere need an initial guess of the vertical distribution of those gases to start from. We have developed an approach to provide those initial guess profiles that uses readily available meteorological data as input. This lets us make these guesses without simulating them with a global model. The profiles generated this way match independent observations well.
Stefano Della Fera, Federico Fabiano, Piera Raspollini, Marco Ridolfi, Ugo Cortesi, Flavio Barbara, and Jost von Hardenberg
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 1379–1394, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-1379-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-1379-2023, 2023
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The long-term comparison between observed and simulated outgoing longwave radiances represents a strict test to evaluate climate model performance. In this work, 9 years of synthetic spectrally resolved radiances, simulated online on the basis of the atmospheric fields predicted by the EC-Earth global climate model (v3.3.3) in clear-sky conditions, are compared to IASI spectral radiance climatology in order to detect model biases in temperature and humidity at different atmospheric levels.
Thomas von Clarmann, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Bernd Funke, Michael Kiefer, Anne Kleinert, Gabriele P. Stiller, Andrea Linden, and Sylvia Kellmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6991–7018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6991-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6991-2022, 2022
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Errors of profiles of temperature and mixing ratios retrieved from spectra recorded with the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding are estimated. All known and quantified sources of uncertainty are considered. Some ongoing uncertaities contribute to both the random and to the systematic errors. In some cases, one source of uncertainty propagates onto the error budget via multiple pathways. Problems arise when the correlations of errors to be propagated are unknown.
Ali Jalali, Kaley A. Walker, Kimberly Strong, Rebecca R. Buchholz, Merritt N. Deeter, Debra Wunch, Sébastien Roche, Tyler Wizenberg, Erik Lutsch, Erin McGee, Helen M. Worden, Pierre Fogal, and James R. Drummond
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6837–6863, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6837-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6837-2022, 2022
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This study validates MOPITT version 8 carbon monoxide measurements over the Canadian high Arctic for the period 2006 to 2019. The MOPITT products from different detector pixels and channels are compared with ground-based measurements from the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Eureka, Nunavut, Canada. These results show good consistency between the satellite and ground-based measurements and provide guidance on the usage of these MOPITT data at high latitudes.
Paul S. Jeffery, Kaley A. Walker, Chris E. Sioris, Chris D. Boone, Doug Degenstein, Gloria L. Manney, C. Thomas McElroy, Luis Millán, David A. Plummer, Niall J. Ryan, Patrick E. Sheese, and Jiansheng Zou
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14709–14734, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14709-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14709-2022, 2022
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The upper troposphere–lower stratosphere is one of the most variable regions in the atmosphere. To improve our understanding of water vapour and ozone concentrations in this region, climatologies have been developed from 14 years of measurements from three Canadian satellite instruments. Horizontal and vertical coordinates have been chosen to minimize the effects of variability. To aid in analysis, model simulations have been used to characterize differences between instrument climatologies.
Gerald Wetzel, Michael Höpfner, Hermann Oelhaf, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Anne Kleinert, Guido Maucher, Miriam Sinnhuber, Janna Abalichin, Angelika Dehn, and Piera Raspollini
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6669–6704, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6669-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6669-2022, 2022
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Satellite measurements of stratospheric trace gases are essential for monitoring distributions and trends of these species on a global scale. Here, we compare the final MIPAS ESA Level 2 version 8 data (temperature and trace gases) with measurements obtained with the balloon version of MIPAS in terms of data agreement of both sensors, including combined errors. For most gases, we find a 5 % to 20 % agreement of the retrieved vertical profiles of both MIPAS instruments in the lower stratosphere.
Kimberlee Dubé, Daniel Zawada, Adam Bourassa, Doug Degenstein, William Randel, David Flittner, Patrick Sheese, and Kaley Walker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6163–6180, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6163-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6163-2022, 2022
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Satellite observations are important for monitoring changes in atmospheric composition. Here we describe an improved version of the NO2 retrieval for the Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager System. The resulting NO2 profiles are compared to those from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment – Fourier Transform Spectrometer and the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III on the International Space Station. All datasets agree within 20 % throughout the stratosphere.
Carlo Arosio, Alexei Rozanov, Victor Gorshelev, Alexandra Laeng, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5949–5967, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5949-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5949-2022, 2022
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This paper characterizes the uncertainties affecting the ozone profiles retrieved at the University of Bremen through OMPS limb satellite observations. An accurate knowledge of the uncertainties is relevant for the validation of the product and to correctly interpret the retrieval results. We investigate several sources of uncertainties, estimate a total random and systematic component, and verify the consistency of the combined OMPS-MLS total uncertainty.
Xin Yang, Kimberly Strong, Alison S. Criscitiello, Marta Santos-Garcia, Kristof Bognar, Xiaoyi Zhao, Pierre Fogal, Kaley A. Walker, Sara M. Morris, and Peter Effertz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-696, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-696, 2022
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Snow pack in high Arctic plays a key role in polar atmospheric chemistry, especially in spring when photochemistry becomes active. By sampling surface snow from a Canadian high Arctic location at Eureka, Nunavut (80° N, 86° W), we demonstrate that surface snow is a net sink rather than a source of atmospheric reactive bromine and nitrate. This finding is new and opposite to previous conclusions that snowpack is a large and direct source of reactive bromine in polar spring.
Niilo Kalakoski, Viktoria F. Sofieva, René Preusker, Claire Henocq, Matthieu Denisselle, Steffen Dransfeld, and Silvia Scifoni
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5129–5140, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5129-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5129-2022, 2022
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Geophysical validation of the Integrated Water Vapour (IWV) product from the Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) was performed against reference observations from SUOMINET and IGRA databases. Results for cloud-free matchups over land show a wet bias of 7 %–10 % for OLCI, with a high correlation against the reference observations (0.98 against SUOMINET and 0.90 against IGRA). Special attention is given to validation of uncertainty estimates and cloud flagging.
Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Niramson Azouz, Viktoria F. Sofieva, Daan Hubert, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Peter Effertz, Gérard Ancellet, Doug A. Degenstein, Daniel Zawada, Lucien Froidevaux, Stacey Frith, Jeannette Wild, Sean Davis, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, Thierry Leblanc, Richard Querel, Kleareti Tourpali, Robert Damadeo, Eliane Maillard Barras, René Stübi, Corinne Vigouroux, Carlo Arosio, Gerald Nedoluha, Ian Boyd, Roeland Van Malderen, Emmanuel Mahieu, Dan Smale, and Ralf Sussmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11657–11673, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11657-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11657-2022, 2022
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An updated evaluation up to 2020 of stratospheric ozone profile long-term trends at extrapolar latitudes based on satellite and ground-based records is presented. Ozone increase in the upper stratosphere is confirmed, with significant trends at most latitudes. In this altitude region, a very good agreement is found with trends derived from chemistry–climate model simulations. Observed and modelled trends diverge in the lower stratosphere, but the differences are non-significant.
William G. Read, Gabriele Stiller, Stefan Lossow, Michael Kiefer, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Dale Hurst, Holger Vömel, Karen Rosenlof, Bianca M. Dinelli, Piera Raspollini, Gerald E. Nedoluha, John C. Gille, Yasuko Kasai, Patrick Eriksson, Christopher E. Sioris, Kaley A. Walker, Katja Weigel, John P. Burrows, and Alexei Rozanov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3377–3400, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3377-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3377-2022, 2022
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This paper attempts to provide an assessment of the accuracy of 21 satellite-based instruments that remotely measure atmospheric humidity in the upper troposphere of the Earth's atmosphere. The instruments made their measurements from 1984 to the present time; however, most of these instruments began operations after 2000, and only a few are still operational. The objective of this study is to quantify the accuracy of each satellite humidity data set.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Risto Hänninen, Mikhail Sofiev, Monika Szeląg, Hei Shing Lee, Johanna Tamminen, and Christian Retscher
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3193–3212, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3193-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3193-2022, 2022
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We present tropospheric ozone column datasets that have been created using combinations of total ozone column from OMI and TROPOMI with stratospheric ozone column datasets from several available limb-viewing instruments (MLS, OSIRIS, MIPAS, SCIAMACHY, OMPS-LP, GOMOS). The main results are (i) several methodological developments, (ii) new tropospheric ozone column datasets from OMI and TROPOMI, and (iii) a new high-resolution dataset of ozone profiles from limb satellite instruments.
Cynthia H. Whaley, Rashed Mahmood, Knut von Salzen, Barbara Winter, Sabine Eckhardt, Stephen Arnold, Stephen Beagley, Silvia Becagli, Rong-You Chien, Jesper Christensen, Sujay Manish Damani, Xinyi Dong, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Gregory Faluvegi, Mark Flanner, Joshua S. Fu, Michael Gauss, Fabio Giardi, Wanmin Gong, Jens Liengaard Hjorth, Lin Huang, Ulas Im, Yugo Kanaya, Srinath Krishnan, Zbigniew Klimont, Thomas Kühn, Joakim Langner, Kathy S. Law, Louis Marelle, Andreas Massling, Dirk Olivié, Tatsuo Onishi, Naga Oshima, Yiran Peng, David A. Plummer, Olga Popovicheva, Luca Pozzoli, Jean-Christophe Raut, Maria Sand, Laura N. Saunders, Julia Schmale, Sangeeta Sharma, Ragnhild Bieltvedt Skeie, Henrik Skov, Fumikazu Taketani, Manu A. Thomas, Rita Traversi, Kostas Tsigaridis, Svetlana Tsyro, Steven Turnock, Vito Vitale, Kaley A. Walker, Minqi Wang, Duncan Watson-Parris, and Tahya Weiss-Gibbons
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5775–5828, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5775-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5775-2022, 2022
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Air pollutants, like ozone and soot, play a role in both global warming and air quality. Atmospheric models are often used to provide information to policy makers about current and future conditions under different emissions scenarios. In order to have confidence in those simulations, in this study we compare simulated air pollution from 18 state-of-the-art atmospheric models to measured air pollution in order to assess how well the models perform.
Alexandra Laeng, Thomas von Clarmann, Quentin Errera, Udo Grabowski, and Shawn Honomichl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2407–2416, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2407-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2407-2022, 2022
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In validation exercises, a universal excuse used to explain the residual discrepancy between the data is the natural atmospheric variability due to imperfect co-locations. This work is the first attempt to quantify this atmospheric variability for a large sample of atmospheric constituents and to provide the user with a tool to substract the natural atmospheric variability portion from the residual variability.
Piera Raspollini, Enrico Arnone, Flavio Barbara, Massimo Bianchini, Bruno Carli, Simone Ceccherini, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Angelika Dehn, Stefano Della Fera, Bianca Maria Dinelli, Anu Dudhia, Jean-Marie Flaud, Marco Gai, Michael Kiefer, Manuel López-Puertas, David P. Moore, Alessandro Piro, John J. Remedios, Marco Ridolfi, Harjinder Sembhi, Luca Sgheri, and Nicola Zoppetti
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1871–1901, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1871-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1871-2022, 2022
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The MIPAS instrument onboard the ENVISAT satellite provided 10 years of measurements of the atmospheric emission al limb that allow for the retrieval of latitude- and altitude-resolved atmospheric composition. We describe the improvements implemented in the retrieval algorithm used for the full mission reanalysis, which allows for the generation of the global distributions of 21 atmospheric constituents plus temperature with increased accuracy with respect to previously generated data.
Maya Ben-Yami, Hilke Oetjen, Helen Brindley, William Cossich, Dulce Lajas, Tiziano Maestri, Davide Magurno, Piera Raspollini, Luca Sgheri, and Laura Warwick
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1755–1777, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1755-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1755-2022, 2022
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Spectral emissivity is a key property of the Earth's surface. Few measurements exist in the far-infrared, despite recent work showing that its contribution is important for accurate modelling of global climate. In preparation for ESA’s EE9 FORUM mission (launch in 2026), this study takes the first steps towards the development of an operational emissivity retrieval for FORUM by investigating the sensitivity of the emissivity product to different physical and operational parameters.
Sören Johansson, Gerald Wetzel, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Norbert Glatthor, Michael Höpfner, Anne Kleinert, Tom Neubert, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, and Jörn Ungermann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3675–3691, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3675-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3675-2022, 2022
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We present GLORIA airborne cross sections of PAN, C2H6, HCOOH, CH3OH, and C2H4 in the South Atlantic UTLS in September/October 2019. Filamentary structures and a large plume were observed. Backward trajectories indicate that measured pollutants come from South America and central Africa. Comparisons to CAMS show structural agreement of the measured distributions. PAN absolute VMRs agree with the GLORIA measurements, C2H6 and HCOOH are simulated too low, and CH3OH and C2H4 are too high.
Patrick E. Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, Chris D. Boone, Adam E. Bourassa, Doug A. Degenstein, Lucien Froidevaux, C. Thomas McElroy, Donal Murtagh, James M. Russell III, and Jiansheng Zou
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1233–1249, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1233-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1233-2022, 2022
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This study analyzes the quality of two versions (v3.6 and v4.1) of ozone concentration measurements from the ACE-FTS (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer), by comparing with data from five satellite instruments between 2004 and 2020. It was found that although the v3.6 data exhibit a better agreement than v4.1 with respect to the other instruments, v4.1 exhibits much better stability over time than v3.6. The stability of v4.1 makes it suitable for ozone trend studies.
Thomas von Clarmann, Steven Compernolle, and Frank Hase
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1145–1157, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1145-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1145-2022, 2022
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Contrary to the claims put forward in
Evaluation of measurement data – Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurementissued by the JCGM, the error concept and the uncertainty concept are the same. Arguments in favor of the contrary were found not to be compelling. Neither was any evidence presented that
errorsand
uncertaintiesdefine a different relation between the measured and true values, nor is a Bayesian concept beyond the mere subjective probability referred to.
Luca Sgheri, Claudio Belotti, Maya Ben-Yami, Giovanni Bianchini, Bernardo Carnicero Dominguez, Ugo Cortesi, William Cossich, Samuele Del Bianco, Gianluca Di Natale, Tomás Guardabrazo, Dulce Lajas, Tiziano Maestri, Davide Magurno, Hilke Oetjen, Piera Raspollini, and Cristina Sgattoni
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 573–604, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-573-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-573-2022, 2022
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The FORUM instrument will look at the Earth's atmosphere from a satellite, covering a spectral range responsible for about 95 % of the radiation lost by our planet. FORUM helps to measure the imbalance between incoming and outgoing radiation that is responsible for the increasing average temperatures on Earth. The end-to-end simulator is a chain of codes that simulates the FORUM measurement process. The goal of the project is to study how the instrument reacts to different retrieval conditions.
Sheena Loeffel, Roland Eichinger, Hella Garny, Thomas Reddmann, Frauke Fritsch, Stefan Versick, Gabriele Stiller, and Florian Haenel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1175–1193, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1175-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1175-2022, 2022
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SF6-derived trends of stratospheric AoA from observations and model simulations disagree in sign. SF6 experiences chemical degradation, which we explicitly integrate in a global climate model. In our simulations, the AoA trend changes sign when SF6 sinks are considered; thus, the process has the potential to reconcile simulated with observed AoA trends. We show that the positive AoA trend is due to the SF6 sinks themselves and provide a first approach for a correction to account for SF6 loss.
Bianca Maria Dinelli, Piera Raspollini, Marco Gai, Luca Sgheri, Marco Ridolfi, Simone Ceccherini, Flavio Barbara, Nicola Zoppetti, Elisa Castelli, Enzo Papandrea, Paolo Pettinari, Angelika Dehn, Anu Dudhia, Michael Kiefer, Alessandro Piro, Jean-Marie Flaud, Manuel López-Puertas, David Moore, John Remedios, and Massimo Bianchini
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7975–7998, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7975-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7975-2021, 2021
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The level-2 v8 database from the measurements of the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS), aboard the European Space Agency Envisat satellite, containing atmospheric fields of pressure, temperature, and volume mixing ratio of 21 trace gases, is described in this paper. The database covers all the measurements acquired by MIPAS (from July 2002 to April 2012). The number of species included makes it of particular importance for the studies of stratospheric chemistry.
Paolo Pettinari, Flavio Barbara, Simone Ceccherini, Bianca Maria Dinelli, Marco Gai, Piera Raspollini, Luca Sgheri, Massimo Valeri, Gerald Wetzel, Nicola Zoppetti, and Marco Ridolfi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7959–7974, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7959-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7959-2021, 2021
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Phosgene (COCl2) is a toxic gas whose presence is a consequence of human activity. Besides its direct injection in the troposphere, stratospheric COCl2 is produced from the decomposition of CCl4, an anthropogenic gas regulated by the Montreal Protocol. As a consequence, COCl2 negative trends characterize the lower and part of the middle stratosphere. However, we find positive trends in the upper troposphere, demonstrating the non-negligible role of other Cl-containing species not yet regulated.
Michael Höpfner, Oliver Kirner, Gerald Wetzel, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Florian Haenel, Sören Johansson, Johannes Orphal, Roland Ruhnke, Gabriele Stiller, and Thomas von Clarmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18433–18464, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18433-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18433-2021, 2021
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BrONO2 is an important reservoir gas for inorganic stratospheric bromine linked to the chemical cycles of stratospheric ozone depletion. Presently infrared limb sounding is the only way to measure BrONO2 in the atmosphere. We provide global distributions of BrONO2 derived from MIPAS observations 2002–2012. Comparisons with EMAC atmospheric modelling show an overall agreement and enable us to derive an independent estimate of stratospheric bromine of 21.2±1.4pptv based on the BrONO2 measurements.
Tyler Wizenberg, Kimberly Strong, Kaley Walker, Erik Lutsch, Tobias Borsdorff, and Jochen Landgraf
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7707–7728, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7707-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7707-2021, 2021
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CO is an important atmospheric gas that influences both air quality and the climate. Here, we compare CO measurements from TROPOMI with those from ACE-FTS and an Arctic ground-based FTS at Eureka, Nunavut, to further characterize the accuracy of TROPOMI measurements. CO columns from the instruments agree well but show larger differences at high latitudes. Despite this, the results fall within the TROPOMI accuracy target, indicating good data quality at high latitudes.
Daan Hubert, Klaus-Peter Heue, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Tijl Verhoelst, Marc Allaart, Steven Compernolle, Patrick D. Cullis, Angelika Dehn, Christian Félix, Bryan J. Johnson, Arno Keppens, Debra E. Kollonige, Christophe Lerot, Diego Loyola, Matakite Maata, Sukarni Mitro, Maznorizan Mohamad, Ankie Piters, Fabian Romahn, Henry B. Selkirk, Francisco R. da Silva, Ryan M. Stauffer, Anne M. Thompson, J. Pepijn Veefkind, Holger Vömel, Jacquelyn C. Witte, and Claus Zehner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7405–7433, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7405-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7405-2021, 2021
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We assess the first 2 years of TROPOMI tropical tropospheric ozone column data. Comparisons to reference measurements by ozonesonde and satellite sensors show that TROPOMI bias (−0.1 to +2.3 DU) and precision (1.5 to 2.5 DU) meet mission requirements. Potential causes of bias and its spatio-temporal structure are discussed, as well as ways to identify sampling errors. Our analysis of known geophysical patterns demonstrates the improved performance of TROPOMI with respect to its predecessors.
Nathaniel J. Livesey, William G. Read, Lucien Froidevaux, Alyn Lambert, Michelle L. Santee, Michael J. Schwartz, Luis F. Millán, Robert F. Jarnot, Paul A. Wagner, Dale F. Hurst, Kaley A. Walker, Patrick E. Sheese, and Gerald E. Nedoluha
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15409–15430, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15409-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15409-2021, 2021
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The Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), an instrument on NASA's Aura mission launched in 2004, measures vertical profiles of the temperature and composition of Earth's "middle atmosphere" (the region from ~12 to ~100 km altitude). We describe how, among the 16 trace gases measured by MLS, the measurements of water vapor (H2O) and nitrous oxide (N2O) have started to drift since ~2010. The paper also discusses the origins of this drift and work to ameliorate it in a new version of the MLS dataset.
Cited articles
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von Clarmann, T., Glatthor, N., Grabowski, U., Höpfner, M., Kellmann, S., Kiefer, M., Linden, A., Mengistu Tsidu, G., Milz, M., Steck, T., Stiller, G. P., Wang, D. Y., Fischer, H., Funke, B., Gil-López, S., and López-Puertas, M.: Retrieval of temperature and tangent altitude pointing from limb emission spectra recorded from space by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS), J. Geophys. Res., 108, 4736, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003602, 2003.
von Clarmann, T., Höpfner, M., Kellmann, S., Linden, A., Chauhan, S., Funke, B., Grabowski, U., Glatthor, N., Kiefer, M., Schieferdecker, T., Stiller, G. P., and Versick, S.: Retrieval of temperature, H2O, O3, HNO3, CH4, N2O, ClONO2 and ClO from MIPAS reduced resolution nominal mode limb emission measurements, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 2, 159–175, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2-159-2009, 2009.
Short summary
A MIPAS instrument was flown in 2002–2012 on the Envisat satellite and measured atmospheric composition. There exist four processors retrieving atmospheric profiles from MIPAS spectra. We performed a mathematically clean merging of 2007–2008 datasets of ozone from these four processors. The merged product was compared with ozone datasets from ACE-FTS and MLS instruments. The advantages and the shortcomings of this merged product are discussed.
A MIPAS instrument was flown in 2002–2012 on the Envisat satellite and measured atmospheric...
