Validation of HNO3, ClONO2, and N2O5 from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS)

Year: 2008

Authors: Wolff M. A., Kerzenmacher T., Strong K., Walker KA., Toohey M., Dupuy E., Bernath P., Boone CD., Brohede S., Catoire V., Von Clarmann T., Coffey M., Daffer WH., De Maziere M., Duchatelet P., Glatthor N., Griffith DWT., Hannigan J., Hase F., Hopfner M., Huret N., Jones N., Jucks K., Kagawa A., Kasai Y., Kramer I., Kullmann H., Kuttippurath J., Mahieu E., Manney G., McElroy CT., McLinden C., Mebarki Y., Mikuteit S., Murtagh D., Piccolo C., Raspollini P., Ridolfi M., Ruhnke R., Santee M., Senten C., Smale D., Tetard C., Urban J., Wood S.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Toronto, Dept Phys, Toronto, ON, Canada
Univ Waterloo, Dept Chem, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Univ York, Dept Chem, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire, England
Chalmers Univ Technol, Dept Radio & Space Sci, S-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
Univ Orleans, CNRS, Lab Phys & Chim Environm, Orleans, France
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
Univ Karlsruhe, Inst Meteorol & Climate Res, Karlsruhe, Germany
Natl Ctr Atmospher Res, Boulder, CO 80307 USA
Columbus Technol Inc, Pasadena, CA USA
Belgian Inst Space Aeron, Brussels, Belgium
Univ Liege, Inst Astrophys & Geophys, Liege, Belgium
Univ Wollongong, Sch Chem, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
Harvard Smithsonian Ctr Astrophys, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Fujitsu FIP Corp, Tokyo, Japan
Natl Inst Informat & Commun Technol, Environm Sensing & Network Grp, Tokyo, Japan
Univ Bremen, Inst Environm Phys, Bremen, Germany
CALTECH, Jet Prop Lab, Pasadena, CA USA
New Mexico Inst Min & Technol, Socorro, NM 87801 USA
Environm Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
Univ Oxford, Oxford, England
Natl Res Ctr CNR, Inst Appl Phys Nello Carrara, Florence, Italy
Univ Bologna, Dipartimento Chim Fis & Inorgan, I-40136 Bologna, Italy
Univ Sci & Technol Lille, Opt Atmospher Lab, Villeneuve Dascq, France

Abstract: The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) satellite was launched on 12 August 2003. Its two instruments measure vertical profiles of over 30 atmospheric trace gases by analyzing solar occultation spectra in the ultraviolet/visible and infrared wavelength regions. The reservoir gases HNO3, ClONO2, and N2O5 are three of the key species provided by the primary instrument, the ACE Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS). This paper describes the ACE-FTS version 2.2 data products, including the N2O5 update, for the three species and presents validation comparisons with available observations. We have compared volume mixing ratio (VMR) profiles of HNO3, ClONO2, and N2O5 with measurements by other satellite instruments (SMR, MLS, MIPAS), aircraft measurements (ASUR), and single balloon-flights (SPIRALE, FIRS-2). Partial columns of HNO3 and ClONO2 were also compared with measurements by ground-based Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometers. Overall the quality of the ACE-FTS v2.2 HNO3 VMR profiles is good from 18 to 35 km. For the statistical satellite comparisons, the mean absolute differences are generally within +/- 1 ppbv (+/- 20%) from 18 to 35 km. For MIPAS and MLS comparisons only, mean relative differences lie within +/- 10% between 10 and 36 km. ACE-FTS HNO3 partial columns (similar to 15-30 km) show a slight negative bias of – 1.3% relative to the ground-based FTIRs at latitudes ranging from 77.8 degrees S-76.5 degrees N. Good agreement between ACE-FTS ClONO2 and MIPAS, using the Institut fur Meteorologie und Klimaforschung and Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IMK-IAA) data processor is seen. Mean absolute differences are typically within +/- 0.01 ppbv between 16 and 27 kin and less than +0.09 ppbv between 27 and 34 km. The ClONO2 partial column comparisons show varying degrees of agreement, depending on the location and the quality of the FTIR measurements. Good agreement was found for the comparisons with the rnidlatitude JungfrauJoch partial columns for which the mean relative difference is 4.7%. ACE-FTS N2O5 has a low bias relative to MIPAS IMK-IAA, reaching -0.25 ppbv at the altitude of the N2O5 maximum (around 30 km). Mean absolute differences at lower altitudes (16-27 km) are typically -0.05 ppbv for MIPAS nighttime and +/- 0.02 ppbv for MIPAS daytime measurements.

Journal/Review: ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS (PRINT)

Volume: 8 (13)      Pages from: 3529  to: 3562

More Information: Funding for the ACE mission was provided primarily by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. This work was also supported by a grant from the CSA.

Odin is a Swedish-led satellite project funded jointly by the Swedish National Space Board (SNSB), the CSA, the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) in France and the National Technology Agency of Finland (Tekes).

Thanks to B. Bojkov of the Aura Validation Data Center (AVDC) and the Aura-MLS Data Distribution Team for access to the Aura-MLS dataset (see http://avdc.gsfc.nasa.gov). Work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, is carried Out under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

We acknowledge the European Space Agency (ESA) for providing the MIPAS level 1 and 2 datasets. We thank H. Fischer, U. Grabowski, S. Kellmann, M. Kiefer, A. Linden, M. Milz, T. Steck. G. P. Stiller, B. Funke, M. Lopez-Puertas, and G. Mengistu-Tsidu from the MIPAS IMK-IAA team for their contributions and support.

The ASUR group would like to acknowledge help and Support from H. Bremer, A. Kleinbohl and G. Naeveke.

The SPIRALE balloon measurements could only be performed thanks to the technical team (L. Pomathiod. B. Gaubicher. G. Jannet): the flight was funded by ESA and space French agency CNES for the Envisat validation project; the CNES balloon launching team is greatly acknowledged for Successful operations
KeyWords: GROUND-BASED FTIR; CRYOGENIC INFRARED SPECTROMETERS; CHLORINE NITRATE CLONO2; STRATOSPHERIC CHLORINE; OZONE DEPLETION; HIGH-RESOLUTION; NITRIC-ACID; VERTICAL-DISTRIBUTION; RETRIEVAL ALGORITHM; COLUMN ABUNDANCES
DOI: 10.5194/acp-8-3529-2008