Validation of CFC-12 measurements from the Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer (ILAS) with the version 6.0 retrieval algorithm

Abstract

Measurements of CFC-12 were made by the Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer (ILAS) between 57°N and 72°N in the Northern Hemisphere and between 64°S and 89°S in the Southern Hemisphere. ILAS was launched on 17 August 1996 on board the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS). The ILAS validation balloon campaigns were carried out from Kiruna, Sweden (68°N, 21°E), in February and March 1997 and from Fairbanks, Alaska (65°N, 148°W), in April and May 1997. During these validation balloon campaigns, CFC-12 was measured with the in situ instruments ASTRID, BONBON, and SAKURA and the remote sensing spectrometers MIPAS-B, FIRS-2, and MkIV. ILAS version 6.0 CFC-12 profiles obtained at the nearest location to the validation balloon measurement are compared with these validation balloon measurements. The quality of ILAS CFC-12 data processed with the version 6.0 algorithm improved significantly compared to previous versions. Low relative differences between ILAS CFC-12 and the correlative measurements of about 10% were found between 13 and 20 km. The comparison of vertical profiles shows that ILAS CFC-12 data are useful below about 20-22 km inside the vortex and below about 25 km outside the vortex. However, at greater altitudes the relative percentage difference increases very strongly with increasing altitude. Further, correlations of CFC-12 with N2O show a good agreement with the correlative measurements for N2O values of N2O > 150 ppbv. In summary, ILAS CFC-12 data are now suitable for scientific studies in the lower stratosphere. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.