The Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer (ILAS), a sensor for stratospheric ozone layer observation using a solar occultation technique, was mounted on the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS), which was put into a Sun‐synchronous polar orbit in August 1996. Operational measurements were recorded over high‐latitude regions from November 1996 to June 1997. This paper describes the data processing algorithm of Version 5.20 used to retrieve vertical profiles of gases such as ozone, nitric acid, nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and water vapor from the infrared spectral measurements of ILAS. To simultaneously derive mixing ratios of individual gas species as a function of altitude, the nonlinear least squares method was utilized for spectral fitting, and the onion peeling method was applied to perform vertical profiling. This paper also discusses in detail estimation of errors (internal and external errors) associated with the derived gas profiles and compares the errors with repeatability. The internal error estimated from residuals in spectral fitting was generally larger than the repeatability, which suggests either that some unknown factors have not been incorporated into the forward model for simulating observed transmittance data or that some parameters in the model are inaccurate. The external error was almost comparable in magnitude to the repeatability. Numerical simulations were carried out to investigate performance of the nongaseous correction technique. The results showed that the background level of sulfuric acid aerosols has little effect on the retrieved profiles, while polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) with extinction coefficients of the order of 10−3 km−1 at a wavelength of 780 nm have nonnegligible effects on the profiles of some gas species. Despite the problems that require further investigations, it is shown that the ILAS Version 5.20 algorithm generates scientifically useful products.

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Abstract. The winter 1996/97 was quite unusual with late vortex formation and polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) development and subsequent record low temperatures in March. Ozone depletion in the Arctic vortex is determined using ozonesondes. The diabatic cooling is calculated with PV-theta mapped ozone mixing ratios and the large ozone depletions, especially at the center of the vortex where most PSC existence was predicted, enhances the diabatic cooling by up to 80%. The average vortex chemical ozone depletion from January 6 to April 6 is 33, 46, 46, 43, 35. 33. 32 and 21% in air masses ending at 375,400, 425, 450, 475. 500, 525, and 550 K (about 14 -22 km). This depletion is corrected for transport of ozone across the vortex edge calculated with reverse domain-filling trajectories. 375 K is in fact below the vortex, but the calculation method is applicable at this level with small changes. The column integrated chemical ozone depletion amounts to about 92 DU (21%), which is comparable to the depletions observed during the previous four winters.

The corresponding data is now publicly available for further analyses by the atmospheric community.

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The Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer (ILAS) was a satellite‐based solar occultation sensor that was developed by the Environment Agency of Japan (EA) to monitor and study the stratospheric ozone layer. This paper describes the characteristics of the ILAS instrument and its performance in orbit. ILAS measured the vertical distribution of ozone, nitric acid, nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, water vapor, temperature, pressure, and aerosol extinction coefficients at 1.6‐km vertical resolution. ILAS was equipped with two spectrometers: an infrared (IR) spectrometer with an uncooled pyroelectric linear array detector to sense between 6.21 and 11.76 μm and a visible spectrometer to monitor 753–784 nm. In addition, a Sun‐edge sensor (SES) assigned the tangent height of the instantaneous field‐of‐view (IFOV). A two‐axis gimbals control system on ILAS used two Sun position sensors to track the center of brightness of the Sun during occultation measurements. Before launch onboard the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS), the performance of ILAS was checked on the ground using several methods, including gas‐cell measurements, time response measurements, Sun‐tracking tests, and hollow‐cathode lamp measurements. After the launch of ADEOS on 17 August 1996, ILAS functioned successfully for 8 months of routine operation, from 30 October 1996 to 30 June 1997, collecting more than 6700 solar occultation measurements, after which time the satellite failed due to a failure in a solar paddle. The time delay response of the IR channel was characterized using stepwise IR input. Instrument functions of the ILAS IR and visible spectrometers were determined by combining theoretical optical calculations, experimental measurements using a gas‐cell before launch, and in‐orbit data. The signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) of each element in the IR channel was estimated to be 400–1200. In the visible channel, it was 1600–1800 for a 100% direct Sun signal. At sunset occultation, ILAS was able to track the Sun below a tangent height of 10 km in some cases. The method of determining the solar edges from the SES data worked correctly, giving adequate tangent height information for observations. Output signal levels of the SES, visible channel, and IR channel showed slight degradation during the period that ILAS was operational, which is attributed to space‐borne contaminants. However, changes in absolute signal levels do not affect data retrieval, because the solar occultation technique was self‐calibrating. Overall, ILAS worked as designed during its operation in orbit and gathered valuable data for ozone layer studies.

Vertical profiles of ozone concentration in the high latitudes were observed by the Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer (ILAS) aboard the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) from November 1996 to June 1997. The ozone data obtained by the version 5.20 ILAS retrieval algorithm are compared with those obtained by the version 19 Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE), the version 6 Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II, and the version 6 Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement (POAM) II retrieval algorithms. The ILAS data are also compared with ozone data measured by ozonesondes, instruments on board balloons or an aircraft, and ground‐based instruments. The ILAS ozone data generally agree with its correlative data between 11 and 64 km with some exceptions. Quantitatively, the median value of the relative difference (absolute difference divided by its mean value) for these comparisons was within ±10%. Relative differences (18%) exceeding the combined measurement errors were found around 45–55 km altitude from comparisons with the HALOE and SAGE II data in January 1997 in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). Larger relative differences (around 50%) were also found below 15 km from comparisons with the HALOE and POAM II data in November 1996 in the SH, but these absolute differences were 0.10–0.16 ppmv as the median value. The ozone data processed by the version 5.20 were improved compared to the former version 3.10, which is available to the general public. The version 5.20 ozone data can be used for scientific analysis purposes based on the accuracy of the data in comparison with these other instruments.

A solar occultation sensor, the Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer (ILAS)-II, measured 5890 vertical profiles of ozone concentrations in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere and of other species from January to October 2003. The measurement latitude coverage was 54–71°N and 64–88°S, which is similar to the coverage of ILAS (November 1996 to June 1997). One purpose of the ILAS-II measurements was to continue such high-latitude measurements of ozone and its related chemical species in order to help accurately determine their trends. The present paper assesses the quality of ozone data in the version 1.4 retrieval algorithm, through comparisons with results obtained from comprehensive ozonesonde measurements and four satellite-borne solar occultation sensors. In the Northern Hemisphere (NH), the ILAS-II ozone data agree with the other data within ±10% (in terms of the absolute difference divided by its mean value) at altitudes between 11 and 40 km, with the median coincident ILAS-II profiles being systematically up to 10% higher below 20 km and up to 10% lower between 21 and 40 km after screening possible suspicious retrievals. Above 41 km, the negative bias between the NH ILAS-II ozone data and the other data increases with increasing altitude and reaches 30% at 61–65 km. In the Southern Hemisphere, the ILAS-II ozone data agree with the other data within ±10% in the altitude range of 11–60 km, with the median coincident profiles being on average up to 10% higher below 20 km and up to 10% lower above 20 km. Considering the accuracy of the other data used for this comparative study, the version 1.4 ozone data are suitably used for quantitative analyses in the high-latitude stratosphere in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere and in the lower mesosphere in the Southern Hemisphere