Altitude and latitude distribution of atmospheric aerosol and water vapor from the narrow-band lunar eclipse photometry

Abstract

The work contains the description of two narrow IR-bands observational data of total lunar eclipse of March, 3, 2007, one-and two-dimension procedures of radiative transfer equation solution. The results of the procedure are the extinction values for atmospheric aerosol and water vapor at different altitudes in the troposphere along the Earth's terminator crossing North America, Arctic, Siberia and South-Eastern Asia. The altitude range and possible latitude and altitude resolution of atmosphere remote sensing by the lunar eclipses observation are fixed. The results of water vapor retrieval are compared with data of space experiment, the scale of vertical water vapor distribution is found.

Trajectory retrieval and component investigations of the southern polar stratosphere based on high-resolution spectroscopy of the totally eclipsed moon surface

“…The obtained amount is about 2.0 km. It is higher than the tropical latitude value by the eclipse of March 4, 2007, but the stratosphere H 2 O abundance and the scale value obtained in that photometric paper (1.3 km, [7]) seem to be underestimated due to the Forbes effect (underestimation of fine structure absorption by wide spectral band photometry) caused by the structure of H 2 O bands. High-resolution spectroscopy allows us to improve the accuracy of the scale value.…”

“…Refracted solar emission makes the principal contribution to the brightness of the lunar surface. This simplifies the theory and makes it possible to retrieve the additional aerosol and trace gas extinction in the different layers above the limb [6][7][8]. However, the emission scattered in the atmosphere can also be noticeable.…”

“…Photometric analysis of a number of eclipses [6][7][8] in red and near-infrared spectral range out of atmospheric gases absorption bands had shown that the brightness of the outer umbra part (less than 0.2° from the umbra edge) is usually close to the theoretical value for the gaseous atmosphere model without the aerosol extinction, revealing the clear atmosphere conditions above 10 km. The exceptions occur in the equatorial and tropical atmosphere.…”

Lunar eclipses: Probing the atmosphere of an inhabited planet

“…Narrowband filters are prefered to probe specific molecular features such as H 2 O [18]. Frequently, spatially-resolved measurements show that the darkest location in the umbra is offset from the umbra axis, a result from the obvious fact that the Earth's atmospheric composition and aerosol loading are not symmetric.…”

The impact of the Kasatochi eruption on the Moon's illumination during the August 2008 lunar eclipse

“…The classical theory of lunar eclipses accounts for refraction, differential absorption and focusing to explain the Moon's aspect during an eclipse [ Link , 1962]. Link's classical theory has been subsequently perfected and used to investigate the composition and aerosol loading of the Earth's atmosphere [e.g., Ugolnikov and Maslov , 2008]. Aerosols play a critical role in the interpretation of lunar eclipses as their content, distribution and optical properties are largely unpredictable.…”