A compact UV sensor for vertical ozone profiling by solar occultation

Abstract

The significance of the ozone layer for life on Earth necessitates continuous monitoring of global ozone concentrations. Solar occultation is one of the common techniques for carrying out the vertical profiling of ozone concentration in the atmosphere. One of the biggest challenges associated with this technique is to achieve a fine vertical resolution, generally accomplished by restricting the instrument field-of-view. However, this requires a complex design and bulky optics. In this paper, we propose a novel retrieval algorithm by which vertical resolution of profiling can be made independent of the instrument field-of-view, which dramatically reduces the size and design complexity associated with the instrument. A light and compact two-channel UV sensor, for carrying out solar occultation measurements in the Hartley and Huggins (200 nm–370 nm) ozone absorption bands from a geostationary platform is proposed and the detailed estimation of solar UV flux falling on the sensor during an occultation event is carried out.