Abstract
Abstract. This paper presents a comparison of vertical ozone profiles retrieved by the Ozone ProfilE Retrieval Algorithm (OPERA) (versions 1.14–1.24) from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) measurements on board the Meteorological operational Metop-A satellite with spaceborne high-vertical-resolution ozone profiles by Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars (GOMOS), Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imager System (OSIRIS) and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS). The comparison, with global coverage, focuses on the stratosphere and the lower mesosphere and covers the period from March 2008 until the end of 2011. The comparison shows an agreement of GOME-2 ozone profiles with those of GOMOS, OSIRIS and MLS within ±15 % in the altitude range from 15 km up to ∼ 35–40 km depending on latitude. The GOME-2 bias with respect to the reference instruments depends on season, with the strongest dependence observed at high latitudes. The GOME-2 ozone profiles retrieved from non-degradation corrected radiances have a tendency to a systematic negative bias with respect to the reference data above ∼ 30 km. We have studied the influence of solar zenith angle and the effect of instrumental degradation correction. In addition, we have studied GOME-2 performance in Arctic ozone depletion case and demonstrated that GOME-2 data provide valuable information about ozone profiles.
Highlights
Changes in the atmospheric ozone distribution originating from natural and anthropogenic sources have an effect on the Earth’s climate
The quality of the ozone profiles retrieved by Ozone ProfilE Retrieval Algorithm (OPERA) using Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2)/Meteorological operational (Metop)-A measurements is assessed by comparison with profiles retrieved from limbviewing satellite instruments: Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars (GOMOS), Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imager System (OSIRIS) and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS)
The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME)-2 ozone profiles in these figures are based on measurements that are not corrected for instrument degradation
Summary
Changes in the atmospheric ozone distribution originating from natural and anthropogenic sources have an effect on the Earth’s climate. The quality of the ozone profiles retrieved by OPERA using GOME-2/Metop-A measurements is assessed by comparison with profiles retrieved from limbviewing satellite instruments: Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars (GOMOS), Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imager System (OSIRIS) and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS). The selected limbviewing instruments practically do not use a priori information in the inversion They provide ozone profiles with very high accuracy and have a small bias with respect to the ground-based measurements (e.g. van Gijsel et al, 2010). The cumulative DFS (right hand panel) indicates that the retrieved ozone profile has collected information from the measurements between 8 and 50 km In this comparison study we have used reference measurements from three satellite instruments: GOMOS/Envisat, OSIRIS/Odin and MLS/Aura.
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