Comparison of NOAA‐11 SBUV/2 ozone vertical profiles with correlative measurements

Abstract

Vertical profiles of ozone have been determined from observations with the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV/2) instrument on the NOAA‐11 operational satellite. These observations began in January 1989 and continue to early 1995. Comparisons have been made with selected sets of ozone vertical profiles derived from an ensemble of satellite and land‐based measurements. These include; 1) lidar and microwave measurements performed at Table Mountain, CA. 2) Umkehr observations with a mid‐northern latitude set of Dobson spectrophotometers. 3) balloon ozonesondes launched from Boulder, CO. 4) measurements with the NASA SBUV on Nimbus‐7. Overall, the SBUV/2 profiles within the altitude range of 1–20mb agree with the other measurements to about ±5% with a −3 to −5% bias, the SBUV/2 values being lower. This level of agreement is consistent with the expected performance of the SBUV/2 instrument based on an extensive characterization of the instrument both in pre‐launch calibration and in‐orbit performance and also with current understanding of the test optical components used in pre‐flight calibration.