Validation of atmospheric chemistry measurements from MIPAS, SCIAMACHY, GOMOS onboard ENVISAT by observations of balloon-borne MIPAS-B

Abstract

In order to validate the atmospheric chemistry measurements by MIPAS, SCIAMACHY, and GOMOS onboard the ENVISAT, three flights of the balloon-borne Michelson Interferometer for Passive Sounding (MIPAS-B) were carried out in 2002 and 2003 at Aire sur l'Adour (France 44°N, 0°E) and Esrange, Kiruna (Sweden 68°N, 21°E). The validation campaign activities are summarized in this paper. The MIPAS-B instrument and its data processing procedure as well as the validation approaches are discussed in detail. The satellite and balloon measurements are matched with high coincidence in time and space, allowing a coincident approach to be applied for their comparisons. Further, a trajectory model is used to confirm and enhance the statistical significance of the validation. The validation results show that MIPAS measurements of accuracy for temperature, H 2 O, O 3 , HNO 3 , CH 4 , N 2 O, and NO 2 are good in the altitude range of 8-39 km (No 2 , 22-39 km). And the precision is good between the altitudes of 15-33 km (No 2 , 22-23 km). However, some exceptions were also found for temperature, H 2 O, HNO 3 , and NO 2 . The SCIAMACHY data of accuracy for O 3 and NO 2 are within expectations between the altitudes 9-38 km except for O 3 in 28-38 km. The GOMOS data about O 3 and NO 2 are promising according to the preliminary comparison results. validation, ENVISAT, MIPAS, SCIAMACHY, GOMOS, MIPAS-B Citation: Zhang G C, Wetzel G, Oelhaf H, et al. Validation of atmospheric chemistry measurements from MIPAS, SCIAMACHY, GOMOS onboard ENVISAT by observations of balloon-borne MIPAS-B.

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

“…Stratospheric measurements with balloon instruments like MIPAS-B are particularly suitable for reaching this goal, since these instruments are able to sound the atmosphere with high vertical resolution (e.g. Wetzel et al, 2006;Cortesi et al, 2007;Ridolfi et al, 2007;Wang et al, 2007;Wetzel et al, 2007;Renard et al, 2008;Payan et al, 2009;Zhang et al, 2010;Sagawa et al, 2013;Wetzel et al, 2013a). The main logistical requirement that the satellite and the validating balloon instruments observe the same air masses has to be considered carefully when performing balloon campaigns.…”

Performance Assessment of Balloon-Borne Trace Gas Sounding with the Terahertz Channel of TELIS

“…Besides, balloon campaigns have been proven to be valuable for the validation of spaceborne missions. Measurements of atmospheric tracers recorded by MIPAS-B [16], the balloon version of the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) [17] throughout the thermal infrared (TIR) region, have been used for validating the sensors on the ESA's Envisat satellite [18][19][20][21][22][23], the Japanese Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer (ILAS)/ILAS-II satellite sensor [24], and the SMILES instrument on the ISS [25]. Likewise, the Limb Profile Monitor of the Atmosphere (LPMA) [26] operated by the Laboratoire de Physique Moleculaire et Applications at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) has been used to validate satellite instruments onboard the Envisat.…”

Long-term intercomparison of MIPAS additional species ClONO2, N2O5, CFC-11, and CFC-12 with MIPAS-B measurements

“…MIPAS-B limb sequences recorded during these flights are compared to the corresponding MIPAS-E overpasses. MIPAS-B was strongly involved in the ENVISAT validation activities and the high accuracy of the MIPAS-B data has been assessed in numerous MIPAS-E related validation studies [see, e.g., Cortesi et al 2007, Höpfner et al 2007, Milz et al 2009, Payan et al 2009, Ridolfi et al 2007, Steck et al 2007, Wang et al 2007a, 2007b, Wetzel et al, 2007, Zhang et al 2010a, 2010b Stiller et al 2002;Höpfner et al 2002]. A Tikhonov-Phillips regularization approach [Phillips, 1962, Tikhonov, 1963 constraining with respect to a first derivative a priori profile was adopted.…”