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At least 199 records · Page 11

Earth Science With the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) on the International Space Station

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III is the fourth generation of solar occultation instruments operated by NASA, the first coming under a different acronym, to investigate the Earth's upper atmosphere. Three flight-ready SAGE III instruments were built by Ball Aerospace in the late 1990s, with one launched aboard the former Russian Aviation and Space Agency (now known as Roskosmos) Meteor-3M platform on 10 December 2001 (continuing until the platform lost power in 2006). Another of the original instruments was manifested for the ISS in the 2004 time frame, but was delayed because of budgetary considerations. Fortunately, that SAGE III/ISS mission was restarted in 2009 with a major focus upon filling an anticipated gap in ozone and aerosol observation in the second half of this decade. Here we discuss the mission architecture, its implementation, and data that will be produced by SAGE III/ISS, including their expected accuracy and coverage. The 52-degree inclined orbit of the ISS is well-suited for solar occultation and provides near-global observations on a monthly basis with excellent coverage of low and mid-latitudes. This is similar to that of the SAGE II mission (1985-2005), whose data set has served the international atmospheric science community as a standard for stratospheric ozone and aerosol measurements. The nominal science products include vertical profiles of trace gases, such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide and water vapor, along with multi-wavelength aerosol extinction. Though in the visible portion of the spectrum the brightness of the Sun is one million times that of the full Moon, the SAGE III instrument is designed to cover this large dynamic range and also perform lunar occultations on a routine basis to augment the solar products. The standard lunar products were demonstrated during the SAGE III/M3M mission and include ozone, nitrogen dioxide & nitrogen trioxide. The operational flexibility of the SAGE III spectrometer accomplishes the main goal of producing ozone and aerosol extinction profiles, while allowing exploration of new possibilities for the occultation technique, such as night-time aerosol extinction profiles or other trace gases not measured by SAGE in the past.

Zawodny, Joe↗

Sensitivity of Assimilated Tropical Tropospheric Ozone to the Meteorological Analyses

Tropical tropospheric ozone fields from two different experiments performed with an off-line ozone assimilation system developed in NASA's Data Assimilation Office (DAO) are examined. Assimilated ozone fields from the two experiments are compared with the collocated ozone profiles from the Southern Hemispheric Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) network. Results are presented for 1998. The ozone assimilation system includes a chemistry-transport model, which uses analyzed winds from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Data Assimilation System (DAS). The two experiments use wind fields from different versions of GEOS DAS: an operational version of the GEOS-2 system and a prototype of the GEOS-4 system. While both versions of the DAS utilize the Physical-space Statistical Analysis System and use comparable observations, they use entirely different general circulation models and data insertion techniques. The shape of the annual-mean vertical profile of the assimilated ozone fields is sensitive to the meteorological analyses, with the GEOS-4-based ozone being closest to the observations. This indicates that the resolved transport in GEOS-4 is more realistic than in GEOS-2. Remaining uncertainties include quantification of the representation of sub-grid-scale processes in the transport calculations, which plays an important role in the locations and seasons where convection dominates the transport.

Hayashi, Hiroo↗

Ozone profile intercomparison based on simultaneous observations between 20 and 40 km

The vertical distribution of stratospheric ozone has been simultaneously measured by means of five different instruments carried on the same balloon payload. The launches were performed from Gap during the intercomparison campaign conducted in June 1981 in southern France. Data obtained between altitudes of 20 and 40 km are compared and discussed. Vertical profiles deduced from Electrochemical Concentration Cell sondes launched from the same location by small balloons and from short Umkehr measurements made at Mt Chiran (France) are also included in this comparison. Systematic differences of the order of 20 percent between ozone profiles deduced from solar u.v. absorption and in situ techniques are found.

Aimedieu, P.↗

Ultraviolet remote sensing of atmospheric ozone from payloads using Shuttle capabilities

Previous atmospheric ozone observations using an ultraviolet double monochromator to measure the absorption of back-scattered solar radiation between 255 nm and 340 nm have provided information on the global total ozone distribution as well as its vertical profile. This information can be used to structure the comprehensive ozone observations that are needed to provide a better understanding of ozone formation and destruction mechanisms. Some potential ozone threats, especially that from photodissociation of fluorocarbons, make Shuttle-based observations especially timely. Because of the nature of the global ozone-transport process, measurements must be performed from space on a global scale with sufficient resolution and accuracy to determine the total amount of atmospheric ozone. A better understanding of ozone processes in global regions inaccessible from previous platforms is needed to complete this ozone data base. This paper describes the potential for Shuttle payloads to provide the required information.

Krueger, A. J.↗

Buffering of stratospheric circulation by changing amounts of tropical ozone - A Pinatubo case study

Stratospheric aerosol from Mount Pinatubo heated the tropical lower stratosphere by about 0.3 K/day mainly due to absorption of terrestrial infrared radiation. This heating was dissipated by: (1) an observed increase in stratospheric temperatures, which enhanced the radiation cooling; (2) additional mean upward motion, observed for the aerosol cloud, which led to adiabatic cooling; and (3) reductions in ozone concentrations resulting from enhanced upward motions. Each of these processes operated on a different time scale: maximum temperatures were observed after about 90 days; maximum ozone losses of about -1.5 ppm occurred after 140 days when the enhanced vertical velocities effectively lifted the ozone profile by about 2 km. We believe this shows that ozone plays an important role in buffering vertical motion in the tropical lower stratosphere, and hence the residual Brewer Dobson circulation of the whole stratosphere.

Kinne, S.↗

Validations of Satellite Ozone Profiles in Austral Spring Using Ozonesonde Measurements in the Jang Bogo Station, Antarctica

Using ozonesonde measurements from 2015 to 2018 at the Jang Bogo station located in the southeastern Antarctic region, we evaluate ozone profiles retrieved from the three satellite measurements that are widely used: Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), and Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS) data. For the fair validation, ozonesonde profiles are smoothed using the weighting function of each satellite retrieval algorithm (i.e., convolution process). Compared with limb-viewing MLS and OMPS ozone profiles, the OMI ozone profiles are relatively less qualified: coarser vertical resolution and larger inter-annual variation. Nevertheless, our validation reveals that the quality of all three satellite ozone profiles looks comparable; In general, difference from ozonesonde profile is ∼1 ppm absolutely, and −20 to 30% relatively at maximum. This quantitative range well corresponds to previous work, meaning that our new validation confirms the reliability of satellite ozone profiles in the southeastern Antarctic region where the measurement data for the validation were not enough. Another interesting feature is the role of a priori ozone profile; Nadir-viewing OMI satellite can have qualified ozone profiles by a proper assumption of a priori ozone profile. Since the performance of limb-viewing ozone profiles is better, however, the careful usage of nadir-viewing ozone profile is still required. We think that the simultaneous usage of multiple satellite ozone profiles can contribute to better understanding of Antarctic ozone characteristics.

Antarctica↗

Application of Aura OMI L2G Products Compared with NASA MERRA-2 Assimilation

The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) is one of the instruments aboard NASA's Aura satellite. It measures ozone total column and vertical profile, aerosols, clouds, and trace gases including NO2, SO2, HCHO, BrO, and OClO using absorption in the ultraviolet electromagnetic spectrum (280 - 400 nm). OMI Level-2G (L2G) products are based on the pixel-level OMI granule satellite measurements stored within global 0.25 deg. X 0.25 deg. grids, therefore they conserve all the Level 2 (L2) spatial and temporal details for 24 hours of scientific data in one file. The second Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2) is NASA's atmospheric reanalysis, using an upgraded version of Goddard Earth Observing System Model, version 5 (GEOS-5) data assimilation system. MERRA-2 includes aerosol data reanalysis and improved representations of stratospheric ozone, compared with its predecessor MERRA, in both instantaneous and time-averaged collections. It is found that simply comparing satellite Level-3 products might cause biases, due to lack of detailed temporal and original retrieval information. It is therefore preferable to inter-compare or implement satellite derived physical quantities directly with/to model assimilation with as high temporal and spatial resolutions as possible. This study will demonstrate utilization of OMI L2G daily aerosol and ozone products by comparing them with MERRA-2 hourly aerosol/ozone simulations, matched in both space and time aspects. Both OMI and MERRA-2 products are accessible online through NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data Information Services Center (GES DISC, https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/).

OMI L2G products↗

Expected Performance of Ozone Climate Data Records from Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite Limb Profiler

The Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite Limb Profiler (OMPS/LP) was launched on board of the Soumi NPP space platform in late October 2011. It provides ozone-profiling capability with high-vertical resolution from 60 Ian to cloud top. In this study, an end-to-end Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) of OMPS/LP ozone is discussed. The OSSE was developed at NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) using the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) data assimilation system. The "truth" for this OSSE is built by assimilating MLS profiles and OMI ozone columns, which is known to produce realistic three-dimensional ozone fields in the stratosphere and upper troposphere. OMPS/LP radiances were computed at tangent points computed by an appropriate orbital model. The OMPS/LP forward RT model, Instrument Models (IMs) and EDR retrieval model were introduced and pseudo-observations derived. The resultant synthetic OMPS/LP observations were evaluated against the "truth" and subsequently these observations were assimilated into GEOS-5. Comparison of this assimilated dataset with the "truth" enables comparisons of the likely uncertainties in 3-D analyses of OMPS/LP data. This study demonstrated the assimilation capabilities of OMPS/LP ozone in GEOS-5, with the monthly, zonal mean (O-A) smaller than 0.02ppmv at all levels, the nns(O-A) close to O.lppmv from 100hPa to 0.2hPa; and the mean(O-B) around the 0.02ppmv for all levels. The monthly zonal mean analysis generally agrees to within 2% of the truth, with larger differences of 2-4% (0.1-0.2ppmv) around 10hPa close to North Pole and in the tropical tropopause region, where the difference is above 20% due to the very low ozone concentrations. These OSSEs demonstrated that, within a single data assimilation system and the assumption that assimilated MLS observations provide a true rendition of the stratosphere, the OMPS/LP ozone data are likely to produce accurate analyses through much of the stratosphere. Additional studies are needed to evaluate the importance of the extremely high vertical resolution of the OMPS/LP ozone data

Xu, P. Q.↗

Aerosol physical properties in the stratosphere (APPS) radiometer design

The measurement concepts and radiometer design developed to obtain earth-limb spectral radiance measurements for the Aerosol Physical Properties in the Stratosphere (APPS) measurement program are presented. The measurements made by a radiometer of this design can be inverted to yield vertical profiles of Rayleigh scatterers, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, aerosol extinction, and aerosol physical properties, including a Junge size-distribution parameter, and a real and imaginary index of refraction. The radiometer design provides the capacity for remote sensing of stratospheric constituents from space on platforms such as the space shuttle and satellites, and therefore provides for global measurements on a daily basis.

Gray, C. R.↗

Middle atmosphere trace constituents; Proceedings of Workshop 9 of the Twenty-sixth COSPAR Plenary Meeting, Toulouse, France, June 30-July 11, 1986

Papers are presented on a reference model for stratospheric NO2, a proposed reference model for nitric acid, proposed reference models for ozone, and a background stratospheric aerosol reference model. Other topics include a comparison between the observed and calculated distributions of trace species in the middle atmosphere, recent measurements of trace constituents from rocket and balloon probes, NO2 field observations in the stratosphere during the MAP/GLOBUS Campaign in 1983 and 1985, and the vertical distribution of ozone in the equatorial zone. Also considered are precision measurements of stratospheric ozone profiles by rocket-borne optical ozonesondes, vertical profiles of source gases at tropical latitudes, and measurements of stratospheric trace constituent distributions from balloon-borne far infrared observations.

Keating, G. M.↗

Updated global and regional trends of stratospheric ozone profiles

We present 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. The trends are evaluated using the LOTUS (Long-term Ozone Trends and Uncertainties in the Stratosphere) regression model. Analyses of satellite data confirm the statistically significant positive ozone trends in the period 2000–2024 in the upper stratosphere of ~1–3% per decade, with larger trends at mid-latitudes compared to the tropics. The trends are slightly positive or close to zero in the middle stratosphere, and mostly negative, -1 to -2% per decade, in the lower stratosphere, but they are not statistically significant. The morphology and magnitude of ozone trends are similar to previous analyses (2000–2020 trends). Ozone trends in 2000–2024 predicted by chemistry-climate model simulations are in good agreement with combined satellite trends. In the upper stratosphere, models predict a slightly stronger ozone recovery than observations. In the lower stratosphere, both models and satellite observations report negative trends in the tropics, while modelled ozone trends are slightly positive at mid-latitudes. Ozone profile trends over several stations estimated from ground-based records capture the same overall vertical pattern of ozone trends as merged gridded satellite datasets. Analyses of regional ozone profile trends in 2003–2024 using merged satellite datasets confirmed the previous observations of a longitudinal structure in ozone trends in the NH mid-latitude stratosphere, with positive trends over Scandinavia and negative trends over Siberia. However, the magnitude of this dipole-like structure is reduced compared to previous analyses.

trends↗

High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder/mod 2 (HIRS/2)

The HIRS/2 is provided for the TIROS-N series of operational meteorological satellites. The instrument features 20 spectral channels, including visible (.7 micron), shortwave (3.7 to 4.6 micron), and longwave (6.7 to 15 micron). Radiance data aids determination of vertical temperature profiles, water vapor, and ozone distribution. System performance and test results are described.

Koenig, E. W.↗

Towards a Satellite Formaldehyde – in situ Hybrid Estimate for Organic Aerosol Abundance

Organic aerosol (OA) is one of the main components of the global particulate burden and intimately links natural and anthropogenic emissions with air quality and climate. It is challenging to accurately represent OA in global models. Direct quantification of global OA abundance is not possible with current remote sensing technology; however, it may be possible to exploit correlations of OA with remotely observable quantities to infer OA spatiotemporal distributions. In particular, formaldehyde (HCHO) and OA share common sources via both primary emissions and secondary production from oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Here, we examine OA–HCHO correlations using data from summertime airborne campaigns investigating biogenic (NASA SEAC4RS and DC3), biomass burning (NASA SEAC4RS), and anthropogenic conditions (NOAA CalNex and NASA KORUS-AQ). In situ OA correlates well with HCHO (r=0.59–0.97), and the slope and intercept of this relationship depend on the chemical regime. For biogenic and anthropogenic regions, the OA–HCHO slopes are higher in low NOx conditions, because HCHO yields are lower and aerosol yields are likely higher. The OA–HCHO slope of wildfires is over 9 times higher than that for biogenic and anthropogenic sources. The OA–HCHO slope is higher for highly polluted anthropogenic sources (e.g., KORUS-AQ) than less polluted (e.g., CalNex) anthropogenic sources. Near-surface OAs over the continental US are estimated by combining the observed in situ relationships with HCHO column retrievals from NASA's Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). HCHO vertical profiles used in OA estimates are from climatology a priori profiles in the OMI HCHO retrieval or output of specific period from a newer version of GEOS-Chem. Our OA estimates compare well with US EPA IMPROVE data obtained over summer months (e.g., slope =0.60–0.62, r=0.56 for August 2013), with correlation performance comparable to intensively validated GEOS-Chem (e.g., slope =0.57, r=0.56) with IMPROVE OA and superior to the satellite-derived total aerosol extinction (r=0.41) with IMPROVE OA. This indicates that OA estimates are not very sensitive to these HCHO vertical profiles and that a priori profiles from OMI HCHO retrieval have a similar performance to that of the newer model version in estimating OA. Improving the detection limit of satellite HCHO and expanding in situ airborne HCHO and OA coverage in future missions will improve the quality and spatiotemporal coverage of our OA estimates, potentially enabling constraints on global OA distribution.

anthropogenic emissions↗

Global-scale distribution of ozone in the remote troposphere from ATom and HIPPO airborne field missions

Ozone is a key constituent of the troposphere, where it drives photochemical processes, impacts air quality, and acts as a climate forcer. Large-scale in situ observations of ozone commensurate with the grid resolution of current Earth system models are necessary to validate model outputs and satellite retrievals. In this paper, we examine measurements from the Atmospheric Tomography (ATom; four deployments in 2016–2018) and the HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO; five deployments in 2009–2011) experiments, two global-scale airborne campaigns covering the Pacific and Atlantic basins. ATom and HIPPO represent the first global-scale, vertically resolved measurements of O3 distributions throughout the troposphere, with HIPPO sampling the atmosphere over the Pacific and ATom sampling both the Pacific and Atlantic. Given the relatively limited temporal resolution of these two campaigns, we first compare ATom and HIPPO ozone data to longer-term observational records to establish the representativeness of our dataset. We show that these two airborne campaigns captured on average 53 %, 54 %, and 38 % of the ozone variability in the marine boundary layer, free troposphere, and upper troposphere–lower stratosphere (UTLS), respectively, at nine well-established ozonesonde sites. Additionally, ATom captured the most frequent ozone concentrations measured by regular commercial aircraft flights in the northern Atlantic UTLS. We then use the repeated vertical profiles from these two campaigns to confirm and extend the existing knowledge of tropospheric ozone spatial and vertical distributions throughout the remote troposphere. We highlight a clear hemispheric gradient, with greater ozone in the Northern Hemisphere, consistent with greater precursor emissions and consistent with previous modeling and satellite studies. We also show that the ozone distribution below 8 km was similar in the extra-tropics of the Atlantic and Pacific basins, likely due to zonal circulation patterns. However, twice as much ozone was found in the tropical Atlantic as in the tropical Pacific, due to well-documented dynamical patterns transporting continental air masses over the Atlantic. Finally, we show that the seasonal variability of tropospheric ozone over the Pacific and the Atlantic basins is driven year-round by transported continental plumes and photochemistry, and the vertical distribution is driven by photochemistry and mixing with stratospheric air. This new dataset provides additional constraints for global climate and chemistry models to improve our understanding of both ozone production and loss processes in remote regions, as well as the influence of anthropogenic emissions on baseline ozone.

ATom, aircraft profiles, Atlantic pollution, ozone↗

Recent Advances in Ozone Data Assimilation at the GMAO - Towards a New Reanalysis

This presentation summarized ongoing work on improving the representation of ozone in the GEOS Data Assimilation Systems. Data from two EOS Aura sensors was used: the total column ozone from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and high vertical resolution stratospheric profiles from Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS, version 3.3). As several previous studies have demonstrated, assimilation of this data can constrain the stratospheric and tropospheric ozone columns with relatively good accuracy. However, the representation of the vertical structures in the troposphere and near tropopause region is often deficient. Since both these layers of the atmosphere are critical to the understanding of the radiative forcing as well as the ozone budget in the troposphere, current work will focus on improving the assimilated product between the surface and the 50 hPa pressure level. The discussion included recent steps that have been taken towards refining the treatment of ozone in GEOS-5. Impacts of improved tropospheric chemistry model were discussed including the introduction of efficiency factors ("averaging kernels") for OMI total ozone, and direct assimilation of radiances from the MLS instrument. In particular, advantages and challenges involved in assimilating limb radiances rather than retrieved product were discussed. This work is, in part, a preparation for a planned reanalysis of the EOS Aura data from 2005 to present.

Krzysztof, Wargan↗

Perspectives on African Ozone from Sondes, Dobson and Aircraft Measurements

We have been studying variability in ozone over Africa using data from ozonesondes (vertical profiles from surface to stratosphere), aircraft (the MOZAIC dataset with cruise altitude and landing/takeoff profiles) and the ground (Dobson spectrophotometer total ozone column measurement). The following may give context for ozone investigations during AMMA: 1. Total ozone measurements since 1989 show considerable variability in mean value among the African stations in Algeria, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, as well as in seasonal cycles and year-to-year. Trends are not evident. 2. The impacts of convection, stratospheric injection, biomass burning and lightning appear in ozone sounding profile data. Time-series analysis and case studies point to periodic influences of long-range interactions with the Atlantic ("ozone paradox," wave-one") and Indian Oceans. 3. Tropospheric ozone variations, observed in tropospheric profiles and integrated column amount, follow general seasonal patterns but short- term variability is so strong that simple averages are inadequate for describing "climatology" and statistical classification approaches may be required.

Thompson, A. M.↗

The Quasi-biennial Oscillation and Annual Variations in Tropical Ozone from SHADOZ and HALOE

We examine the tropical ozone mixing ratio perturbation fields generated from a monthly ozone climatology using 1998 to 2006 ozonesonde data from the Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) network and the 13-year satellite record from 1993 to 2005 obtained from the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE). The long time series and high vertical resolution of the ozone and temperature profiles from the SHADOZ sondes coupled with good tropical coverage north and south of the equator gives a detailed picture of the ozone structure in the lowermost stratosphere down through the tropopause where the picture obtained from HALOE measurements is blurred by coarse vertical resolution. Ozone perturbations respond to annual variations in the Brewer-Dobson Circulation (BDC) in the region just above the cold-point tropopause to around 20 km. Annual cycles in ozone and temperature are well correlated. Above 20 km, ozone and temperature perturbations are dominated by the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO). Both satellite and sonde records show good agreement between positive and negative ozone mixing ratio anomalies and alternating QBO westerly and easterly wind shears from the Singapore rawinsondes with a mean periodicity of 26 months for SHADOZ and 25 months for HALOE. There is a temporal offset of one to three months with the QBO wind shear ahead of the ozone anomaly field. The meridional length scales for the annual cycle and the QBO, obtained using the temperature anomalies and wind shears in the thermal wind equation, compare well with theoretical calculations.

Witte, J. C.↗

The global distribution and variability of stratospheric constituents measured by LIMS

The purpose of the Nimbus 7 LIMS experiment was to sound the composition and structure of the upper atmosphere and provide data for study of photochemistry, radiation, and dynamics processes. Vertical profiles were measured of temperature and ozone (O3) over the 10-km to 65-km range and water vapor, nitrogen dioxide, and nitric acid over the 10-km to 50-km range. Latitude coverage extended from 64 deg S to 84 deg N. Several general features of the atmosphere have emerged from data analyzes thus far. Nitrogen dioxide exhibits rapid latitudinal variations in winter and shows hemispheric asymmetry with generally higher vertical column amount in the summer hemisphere. HNO3 data show that this gas is highly variable with altitude, latitude, and season. Smallest mixing ratios occur in the tropics, and the largest values occur in the high latitude winter hemisphere. The results show that O3, NO2, and HNO3 are strongly affected during a stratospheric warming.

Russell, J. M., III↗