Trajectory matching of ozonesondes and MOZAIC measurements in the UTLS – Part 1: Method description and application at Payerne, Switzerland

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Abstract

With the aim of improving ozonesonde observations in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS), we use three-dimensional forward and backward trajectories, driven by ERA-Interim wind fields to match and compare ozonesonde measurements at Payerne (Switzerland) with observations from the MOZAIC aircraft program from 1994-2009. The uncertainties associated with the sonde-MOZAIC match technique were assessed using "self-matches", i.e. matches of instruments of the same type, such as MOZAIC-MOZAIC. Despite strong vertical gradients of ozone at the tropopause, which render the match approach difficult, the method provides excellent results, showing mean differences between different MOZAIC aircraft of ±2% (typically with a few hours between the up- and downstream match points). Matches between MOZAIC aircraft and Payerne ozonesondes show an agreement of ±5% for sondes equipped with electrochemical concentration cells (ECC) and between < 5% (not scaled to total ozone) and < 10% (scaled) for the Brewer-Mast (BM) sondes after 1998. Prior to 1998, BM sondes show an offset of around 20% (scaled). No break can be identified through the change from the BM to ECC sonde types in September 2002. A comparison of BM sondes with ozone measurements from the NOXAR B747 project for the period 1995-1996 show a smaller offset of around 15% (scaled), which may indicate a small drift in the MOZAIC calibration.

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Staufer, J., Staehelin, J., Stübi, R., Peter, T., Tummon, F., & Thouret, V. (2013). Trajectory matching of ozonesondes and MOZAIC measurements in the UTLS – Part 1: Method description and application at Payerne, Switzerland. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 6(12), 3393–3406. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-3393-2013

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