Monitoring of Stratospheric Changes at the Jungfraujoch Station by High-Resolution Infrared Solar Observations in Support of the Network for Detection of Stratospheric Changes (NDSC)

Abstract

Infrared remote sensing observations from the ground, using the sun as source of radiation, constitute a powerful tool for monitoring the state of our environment. The observational effort carried out at the International Scientific Station of the Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, is used in this paper as a typical example to stress out the performances achievable by that technique. When based on high spectral resolution and high signal-to-noise observations, it can overcome the bulk of the absorption produced by gases with high concentration in the troposphere and contribute efficiently to the quantification and monitoring of trace gases predominantly concentrated in the stratosphere.