Characterization of aura TES carbonyl sulfide retrievals over ocean

Abstract

We present a description of the NASA Aura Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) carbonyl sulfide (OCS) retrieval algorithm for oceanic observations, along with evaluation of the biases and uncertainties using aircraft profiles from the HIPPO (HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations) campaign and data from the NOAA Mauna Loa site. In general, the OCS retrievals (1) have less than 1.0 degree of freedom for signals (DOFs), (2) are sensitive in the mid-troposphere with a peak sensitivity typically between 300 and 500 hPa, (3) but have much smaller systematic errors from temperature, CO2 and H2O calibrations relative to random errors from measurement noise. We estimate the monthly means from TES measurements averaged over multiple years so that random errors are reduced and useful information about OCS seasonal and latitudinal variability can be derived. With this averaging, TES OCS data are found to be consistent (within the calculated uncertainties) with NOAA ground observations and HIPPO aircraft measurements. TES OCS data also captures the seasonal and latitudinal variations observed by these in situ data.