Retrieval of stratospheric aerosol size distribution parameters using satellite solar occultation measurements at three wavelengths

Wrana, Felix; von Savigny, Christian; Zalach, Jacob; Thomason, Larry W.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2345-2021

Articles | Volume 14, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2345-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

New developments in atmospheric limb measurements: instruments,...

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2345-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 14, issue 3

Research article

|

26 Mar 2021

Research article |

| 26 Mar 2021

Retrieval of stratospheric aerosol size distribution parameters using satellite solar occultation measurements at three wavelengths

Felix Wrana, Christian von Savigny, Jacob Zalach, and Larry W. Thomason

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Final revised paper (published on 26 Mar 2021)
Preprint (discussion started on 08 Sep 2020)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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RC1: 'Review paper by Wrana et al.', Anonymous Referee #1, 14 Oct 2020
- AC1: 'Reply to Comments by Referee Nr. 1', Felix Wrana, 02 Dec 2020
RC2: 'Review of AMT-2020-277: Wrana et al., “Retrieval of stratospheric aerosol size distribution parameters using SAGE-III/ISS extinction measurements at three wavelengths”', Anonymous Referee #2, 02 Nov 2020
- AC2: 'Reply to Comments by Referee Nr. 2', Felix Wrana, 02 Dec 2020

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

AR by Felix Wrana on behalf of the Authors (30 Dec 2020) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (04 Jan 2021) by Omar Torres

RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (16 Jan 2021)

RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (20 Jan 2021)

Suggestions for revision or reasons for rejection

2nd Referee Report on “Retrieval of stratospheric aerosol size distribution parameters using SAGE-III/ISS extinction measurements at three wavelengths”, by Wrana et al.

General Comments

The authors brought satisfactory answers and modifications to the text.
I propose some more comments and suggestions for changes that should, in my opinion, be addressed before publication.

Specific comments

L. 72, p. 3: I guess the authors mean “Bingen et al., 2003”

L. 138-141, p.7: “the total number density N0 (…) has to be assumed”: This is a little bit confusing, because it gives the impression that the authors do not retrieve the total number density, what is wrong. It would be less confusing to write, e.g., that “the single aerosol extinction coefficient is calculated with the Mie Code (Oxford, 2108) for a total number density equal to 1” – I guess this is the case. Please note also that “coefficient” is singular. “Extinction coefficient values” can also be used.

L. 161, p. 8; Figure 4: “at a different tangent height”: The authors should mention the range covered by the tangent height values used in Figure 4. It might be useful to use a color code (e.g. grey tones) on the plot for the error bars to visualize in a glance in which altitude range every measurement point is situated.

L. 165, p. 9: “coordinates of the measurement data point”: The authors should specify which kind of coordinates they are refering to.

L. 182, p.9: “the precision”: It does not determine the precision, but the accuracy.

L. 188-190: “accuracy parameter”: The authors should indicate if this accuracy parameter is some standard parameter (e.g. by providing a reference) or a parameter they are defining (“We define the accuracy parameter as …”).

L. 199, p.10: “plot”, lowercase.

L. 217, p.11: “can easily be calculated”.

L. 368-371, p.18: This sentence is particularly long and difficult to read. I suggest the authors to rephrase it.

L. 373, p.19: The authors should specify which “relative difference” they are talking about.

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ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (23 Jan 2021) by Omar Torres

AR by Felix Wrana on behalf of the Authors (01 Feb 2021) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish as is (02 Feb 2021) by Omar Torres

AR by Felix Wrana on behalf of the Authors (11 Feb 2021)

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Short summary

In this paper, we describe a new method for calculating the size of naturally occurring droplets (aerosols) made mostly of sulfuric acid and water that can be found roughly at 20 km altitude in the atmosphere. We use data from the instrument SAGE III/ISS that is mounted on the International Space Station. We show that our method works well, and that the size parameters we calculate are reasonable and can be a valuable addition for a better understanding of aerosols and their effect on climate.