Engineering topics

Pollitt, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Pollitt, S..

3 records

NASA NTRS1990

Intercomparison of remote measurements of stratospheric NO and NO2

During the 1982 and 1983 Balloon Intercomparison Campaigns, the vertical profile of stratospheric NO2 was measured remotely by nine instruments and that of NO by two. Total overhead columns were measured by two more instruments. Between 30 and 35 km, where measurements overlapped, agreement between NO profiles was within + or - 30 percent, which is better than the accuracies claimed by the experimenters. Between 35 and 40 km, there was similarly good agreement between NO2 profiles, but below 30 km, differences of greater than a factor of 3 were found. In the second campaign, NO2 values from most instruments agreed within their quoted errors, except that the Oxford radiometer gave much lower values; the first campaign and the column measurements show a more uniform spread of results.

Roscoe, H. K.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Instrument intercomparisons and assessments

Over the past few years, several field campaigns were devoted to the goal of assessing instrument reliability, as opposed to solely obtaining data to answer a geophysical question. Some examples of the formal instrument intercomparisons that have occurred in the past decade and those that are planned for the very near future are listed chronologically. Balloon-borne techniques and instruments that address the height profiles of the trace species in the lower stratosphere are emphasized. Beginning with the most extensively studied trace constituent, the approach taken and the results obtained, are described. The current status of the measurement capabilities are summarized, and the needs for future intercomparisons and assessments are listed.

Albritton, D. L.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Ozone intercomparisons from the Balloon Intercomparison Campaign

Intercomparisons of remote and in-situ techniques used to measure stratospheric ozone are made using results obtained on the Balloon Intercomparison Campaign of 1982 and 1983. Two in-situ and four remote instruments participated. These included ECC ozonesondes, a UV absorption photometer, and microwave emission, IR emission, and absorption spectrometers. Differences are generally less than 15 percent, and are within the quoted error bars. Flights which involved different sets of instruments were made on four separate days, and results are intercompared in plots of ozone density versus altitude. A careful assessment of errors was made for each instrument, and a plot of absolute errors versus altitude is given.

Robbins, D.↗