Intercomparison of MSX/UVISI‐derived ozone and temperature profiles with ground‐based, SAGE II, HALOE, and POAM III data

Abstract

Recently, we demonstrated a combined extinctive and refractive stellar occultation technique on a proof‐of‐concept basis using data from the Ultraviolet and Visible Imagers and Spectrographic Imagers (UVISI) on the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) satellite. Beyond this initial presentation of the technique, we also used MSX/UVISI data obtained during the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE) campaign in 2000 to demonstrate the utility of stellar occultation data in scientific analyses. In the present work, we compare the retrieved ozone and temperature profiles from numerous MSX/UVISI stellar occultations to ground‐based, SAGE II, Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE), and Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement III (POAM III) data. The MSX/UVISI results derived using the combined occultation method are shown to compare favorably with all these data. Small biases in the comparisons hint at interesting differences in the nature of the various ozone measurement techniques, but the overall agreement in the comparisons clearly illustrates the utility of the combined technique as a complementary means of long‐term ozone monitoring.