The retrieval of O3 profiles from limb scatter measurements: Results from the Shuttle Ozone Limb Sounding Experiment

Abstract

Two instruments were flown on Shuttle flight STS-87 to test a new technique for inferring the ozone vertical profile using measurements of scattered sunlight from the Earth's limb. The instruments were an ultraviolet imaging spectrometer designed to measure ozone between 30 and 50 km, and a multi-filter imaging photometer that uses 600 nm radiances to measure ozone between 15 km and 35 km. Two orbits of limb data were obtained on December 2, 1997. For the scans analyzed, the ozone profile was measured from 15 km to 45 km with approximately 3 km vertical resolution. Comparisons with a profile from an ozonesonde launched from Ascension Island showed agreement mostly within ±5%. The tropopause at 15 km appears to have been detected in this comparison. A comparison with two HALOE ozone profiles showed that on average ozone measured by SOLSE was lower by 9%±5% in the 30 km to 45 km range.