Michelson Interferometer For Passive Atmospheric Sounding Measurements Research Articles

MIPAS IMK/IAA CFC-11 (CCl3F) and CFC-12 (CCl2F2) measurements: accuracy, precision and long-term stability

Abstract. Profiles of CFC-11 (CCl3F) and CFC-12 (CCl2F2) of the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) aboard the European satellite Envisat have been retrieved from versions MIPAS/4.61 to MIPAS/4.62 and MIPAS/5.02 to MIPAS/5.06 level-1b data using the scientific level-2 processor run by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK) and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA). These profiles have been compared to measurements taken by the balloon-borne cryosampler, Mark IV (MkIV) and MIPAS-Balloon (MIPAS-B), the airborne MIPAS-STRatospheric aircraft (MIPAS-STR), the satellite-borne Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) and the High Resolution Dynamic Limb Sounder (HIRDLS), as well as the ground-based Halocarbon and other Atmospheric Trace Species (HATS) network for the reduced spectral resolution period (RR: January 2005–April 2012) of MIPAS. ACE-FTS, MkIV and HATS also provide measurements during the high spectral resolution period (full resolution, FR: July 2002–March 2004) and were used to validate MIPAS CFC-11 and CFC-12 products during that time, as well as profiles from the Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer, ILAS-II. In general, we find that MIPAS shows slightly higher values for CFC-11 at the lower end of the profiles (below ∼ 15 km) and in a comparison of HATS ground-based data and MIPAS measurements at 3 km below the tropopause. Differences range from approximately 10 to 50 pptv ( ∼ 5–20 %) during the RR period. In general, differences are slightly smaller for the FR period. An indication of a slight high bias at the lower end of the profile exists for CFC-12 as well, but this bias is far less pronounced than for CFC-11 and is not as obvious in the relative differences between MIPAS and any of the comparison instruments. Differences at the lower end of the profile (below ∼ 15 km) and in the comparison of HATS and MIPAS measurements taken at 3 km below the tropopause mainly stay within 10–50 pptv (corresponding to ∼ 2–10 % for CFC-12) for the RR and the FR period. Between ∼ 15 and 30 km, most comparisons agree within 10–20 pptv (10–20 %), apart from ILAS-II, which shows large differences above ∼ 17 km. Overall, relative differences are usually smaller for CFC-12 than for CFC-11. For both species – CFC-11 and CFC-12 – we find that differences at the lower end of the profile tend to be larger at higher latitudes than in tropical and subtropical regions. In addition, MIPAS profiles have a maximum in their mixing ratio around the tropopause, which is most obvious in tropical mean profiles. Comparisons of the standard deviation in a quiescent atmosphere (polar summer) show that only the CFC-12 FR error budget can fully explain the observed variability, while for the other products (CFC-11 FR and RR and CFC-12 RR) only two-thirds to three-quarters can be explained. Investigations regarding the temporal stability show very small negative drifts in MIPAS CFC-11 measurements. These instrument drifts vary between ∼ 1 and 3 % decade−1. For CFC-12, the drifts are also negative and close to zero up to ∼ 30 km. Above that altitude, larger drifts of up to ∼ 50 % decade−1 appear which are negative up to ∼ 35 km and positive, but of a similar magnitude, above.

Retrieving cloud geometrical extents from MIPAS/ENVISAT measurements with a 2-D tomographic approach

Clouds represent a critical factor in regulating the Earth's atmosphere and its energy balance. Satellite instruments can measure the energy balance and global atmospheric properties only through an accurate knowledge of the vertical profile of cloudiness, which is as yet one of the key shortages in atmospheric science. The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) on-board the ENVISAT satellite, designed to infer the amount of atmospheric trace-gases, demonstrated also sensitivity to the radiation emitted from clouds. In order to model the effect of the geometrical extent of a cloud on MIPAS measurements, we developed a retrieval model capable to simulate cloud effects on broad spectral intervals accounting for the two-dimensional (2-D) variability of the atmosphere in the satellite orbit plane. The 2-D analysis revealed a sensitivity of MIPAS spectra to both the vertical and horizontal extents and the position of clouds along the instrument line of sight. One-dimensional models were found to underestimate Cloud Top Height (CTH) by approximating clouds as an infinite horizontal layer with a finite vertical extents. With the 2-D approach, we showed it is possible, for optically thin Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs), to retrieve both CTH and horizontal dimension by analyzing simultaneously all the limb observations that come across the cloud with their field of view. For a selected case study we found a very good agreement for both PSC CTH and horizontal extents retrieved from MIPAS measurements and those retrieved from coincident CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarisation) measurements.

Middle stratospheric polar vortex ozone budget during the warming Arctic winter, 2002–2003

The ozone budget inside the middle stratospheric polar vortex (24–36 km) during the 2002–2003 Arctic winter is studied by analyzing Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) satellite data. A comprehensive global chemical transport model (Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers, MOZART-3) is used to analyze the observed variation in polar vortex ozone during the stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) events. Both MIPAS measurement and MOZART-3 calculation show that a pronounced increase (26–28 DU) in the polar vortex ozone due to the SSW events. Due to the weakening of the polar vortex, the exchange of ozone mass across the edge of the polar vortex increases substantially and amounts to about 3.0×107 kg according to MOZART-3 calculation. The enhanced downward transport offsets about 80% of polar vortex ozone mass increase by horizontal transport. A “passive ozone” experiment shows that only ∼55% of the vertical ozone mass flux in February and March can be attributed to the variation in vertical transport. It is also shown that the enhanced downward ozone above ∼32 km should be attributed to the springtime photochemical ozone production. Due to the increase of air temperature, the NO x reaction rate increases by 40%–80% during the SSW events. As a result, NO x catalytic cycle causes another 44% decrease in polar vortex ozone compared to the net ozone changes due to dynamical transport. It is also shown that the largest change in polar vortex ozone is due to horizontal advection by planetary waves in January 2003.

Validation of water vapour profiles (version 13) retrieved by the IMK/IAA scientific retrieval processor based on full resolution spectra measured by MIPAS on board Envisat

Abstract. Vertical profiles of stratospheric water vapour measured by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) with the full resolution mode between September 2002 and March 2004 and retrieved with the IMK/IAA scientific retrieval processor were compared to a number of independent measurements in order to estimate the bias and to validate the existing precision estimates of the MIPAS data. The estimated precision for MIPAS is 5 to 10% in the stratosphere, depending on altitude, latitude, and season. The independent instruments were: the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE), the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS), the Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer-II (ILAS-II), the Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement (POAM III) instrument, the Middle Atmospheric Water Vapour Radiometer (MIAWARA), the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding, balloon-borne version (MIPAS-B), the Airborne Microwave Stratospheric Observing System (AMSOS), the Fluorescent Stratospheric Hygrometer for Balloon (FLASH-B), the NOAA frostpoint hygrometer, and the Fast In Situ Hygrometer (FISH). For the in-situ measurements and the ground based, air- and balloon borne remote sensing instruments, the measurements are restricted to central and northern Europe. The comparisons to satellite-borne instruments are predominantly at mid- to high latitudes on both hemispheres. In the stratosphere there is no clear indication of a bias in MIPAS data, because the independent measurements in some cases are drier and in some cases are moister than the MIPAS measurements. Compared to the infrared measurements of MIPAS, measurements in the ultraviolet and visible have a tendency to be high, whereas microwave measurements have a tendency to be low. The results of χ2-based precision validation are somewhat controversial among the comparison estimates. However, for comparison instruments whose error budget also includes errors due to uncertainties in spectrally interfering species and where good coincidences were found, the χ2 values found are in the expected range or even below. This suggests that there is no evidence of systematically underestimated MIPAS random errors.

Geophysical validation of temperature retrieved by the ESA processor from MIPAS/ENVISAT atmospheric limb-emission measurements

Abstract. The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) has been operating since March 2002 onboard of the ENVIronmental SATellite of the European Space Agency (ESA). The high resolution (0.035 cm−1 full width half maximum, unapodized) limb-emission measurements acquired by MIPAS in the first two years of operation have very good geographical and temporal coverage and have been re-processed by ESA with the most recent versions (4.61 and 4.62) of the inversion algorithms. The products of this processing chain are pressures at the tangent points and geolocated profiles of temperature and of the volume mixing ratios of six key atmospheric constituents: H2O, O3, HNO3, CH4, N2O and NO2. As for all the measurements made with innovative instruments and techniques, this data set requires a thorough validation. In this paper we present a geophysical validation of the temperature profiles derived from MIPAS measurements by the ESA retrieval algorithm. The validation is carried-out by comparing MIPAS temperature with correlative measurements made by radiosondes, lidars, in-situ and remote sensors operated either from the ground or stratospheric balloons. The results of the intercomparison indicate that the bias of the MIPAS profiles is generally smaller than 1 or 2 K depending on altitude. Furthermore we find that, especially at the edges of the altitude range covered by the MIPAS scan, the random error estimated from the intercomparison is larger (typically by a factor of two to three) than the corresponding estimate derived on the basis of error propagation. In this work we also characterize the discrepancies between MIPAS temperature and the temperature fields resulting from the analyses of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The bias and the standard deviation of these discrepancies are consistent with those obtained when comparing MIPAS to correlative measurements; however, in this case the detected bias has a peculiar behavior as a function of altitude. This behavior is very similar to that observed in previous studies and is suspected to be due to vertical oscillations in the ECMWF temperature. The current understanding is that, at least in the upper stratosphere (above ≈10 hPa), these oscillations are caused by a discrepancy between model biases and biases of assimilated radiances from primarily nadir sounders.

First spaceborne observations of Antarctic stratospheric ClONO2 recovery: Austral spring 2002

We report on the first spaceborne observations of ClONO2 recovery in the springtime Antarctic polar vortex, performed by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) from 8 September to 13 October 2002. ClONO2 was retrieved by constrained nonlinear least squares fit from MIPAS measurements with a vertical resolution of 3.3–3.8 km and an estimated accuracy of 6–11% in the lower stratosphere (18–27 km). During the end of September 2002 an unusual major stratospheric warming affected the polar vortex. At the 475 K potential temperature level, ClONO2 showed a pronounced collar structure with high mixing ratios at the vortex edge and values of 0.5–0.6 ppbv in the inner region from 8 to 17 September. During the following 8 days, mean inner vortex ClONO2 increased by 0.8 ppbv accompanied by a decrease of ClO. Thus from 18 to 25 September the conversion into ClONO2 was a major pathway for chlorine deactivation at 475 K. After 25 September, ClONO2 decreased because of conversion into HCl. The onset of chlorine deactivation at 475 K is consistent with the latest polar stratospheric clouds detected by MIPAS on 18 September. At 625 K, mean inner vortex ClONO2 mixing ratios decreased from 2 to 1.35 ppbv from 8 September to 13 October. This evolution was interrupted by temporary chlorine activation from 12 to 16 September when values of 1.55 ppbv were reached. Comparison with previous measurements and model results of 1992 show similar chlorine partitioning at 475 K before the major warming in 2002. However, there is indication that in 2002 the evolution of chlorine deactivation at 475 K was characterized by a faster and more pronounced increase of ClONO2 compared with 1992.