Long-term validation of MIPAS ESA operational products using MIPAS-B measurements

Abstract

Abstract. The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) was a limb-viewing infrared Fourier transform spectrometer that operated from 2002 to 2012 aboard the Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT). The final re-processing of the full MIPAS mission Level 2 data was performed with the ESA operational version 8 (v8) processor. This MIPAS dataset includes not only the retrieval results of pressure–temperature and the standard species H2O, O3, HNO3, CH4, N2O, and NO2 but also vertical profiles of volume mixing ratios of the more difficult-to-retrieve molecules N2O5, ClONO2, CFC-11, CFC-12 (included since v6 processing), HCFC-22, CCl4, CF4, COF2, and HCN (included since v7 processing). Finally, vertical profiles of the species C2H2, C2H6, COCl2, OCS, CH3Cl, and HDO were additionally retrieved by the v8 processor. The balloon-borne limb-emission sounder MIPAS-B was a precursor of the MIPAS satellite instrument. Several flights with MIPAS-B were carried out during the 10-year operational phase of ENVISAT at different latitudes and seasons, including both operational periods when MIPAS measured with full spectral resolution (FR mode) and with optimised spectral resolution (OR mode). All MIPAS operational products (except HDO) were compared to results inferred from dedicated validation limb sequences of MIPAS-B. To enhance the statistics of vertical profile comparisons, a trajectory match method has been applied to search for MIPAS coincidences along the 2 d forward and backward trajectories running from the MIPAS-B measurement geolocations. This study gives an overview of the validation results based on the ESA operational v8 data comprising the MIPAS FR and OR observation periods. This includes an assessment of the data agreement of both sensors, taking into account the combined errors of the instruments. The differences between the retrieved temperature profiles of both MIPAS instruments generally stays within ±2 K in the stratosphere. For most gases – namely H2O, O3, HNO3, CH4, N2O, NO2, N2O5, ClONO2, CFC-11, CFC-12, HCFC-22, CCl4, CF4, COF2, and HCN – we find a 5 %–20 % level of agreement for the retrieved vertical profiles of both MIPAS instruments in the lower stratosphere. For the species C2H2, C2H6, COCl2, OCS, and CH3Cl, however, larger differences (within 20 %–50 %) appear in this altitude range.

Detection of Atmospheric Hydrofluorocarbon-22 with Ground-Based Remote High-Resolution Fourier Transform Spectroscopy over Hefei and an Estimation of Emissions in the Yangtze River Delta

“…Compared with in-situ measurements, the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) technology is employed for the remote sensing of the HCFC's column concentration. For satellite remote sensing, the limb-viewing infrared Fourier transform spectrometer MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding) observed the global HCFC-22 on the Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT) from 2002-2012 [10][11][12]. The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment-Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) has been monitoring the global HCFC-22 atmospheric concentration since 2003 [13][14][15][16][17].…”