Expected performance of the Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb Emission Sounder compared with aircraft data

Abstract

The simulated retrieval performance of a submillimeter wave limb sounder was compared with that of an up-looking instrument with identical observation frequency bands and comparable noise temperature. The frequency bands were 624.32-626.32 and 649.12-650.32 GHz, and the retrieval simulations focused on the key trace gas species O3, HCl, and ClO. As expected, the limb geometry leads to a better altitude resolution and larger measurement altitude range. The same retrieval setup was applied to measured spectra, taken by the up-looking Airborne Submillimeter Radiometer (ASUR) instrument on 4 September 2002 at 19.11°E, 71.90°N and on 19 September 2002 at 44.10°E, 4.10°S. The observed structures in the fit residual near the HCl spectral lines at 625.9 GHz lead to the conclusion that the pressure shift parameter of HCl is likely to be higher than the value in the HITRAN spectroscopic database. Depending on the assumed temperature dependence of the shift, the HCl pressure shift value consistent with the ASUR data is 0.090-0.117 MHz/hPa instead of the 0.030 MHz/hPa reported in HITRAN. This result is in good agreement with very recent independent laboratory work which suggests a value of 0.110 MHz/hPa for the shift. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.