The Earth observing system microwave limb sounder (EOS MLS) on the aura Satellite

The Earth Observing System Microwave Limb Sounder measures several atmospheric chemical species (OH, HO/sub 2/, H/sub 2/O, O/sub 3/, HCl, ClO, HOCl, BrO, HNO/sub 3/, N/sub 2/O, CO, HCN, CH/sub 3/CN, volcanic SO/sub 2/), cloud ice, temperature, and geopotential height to improve our understanding of stratospheric ozone chemistry, the interaction of composition and climate, and pollution in the upper troposphere. All measurements are made simultaneously and continuously, during both day and night. The instrument uses heterodyne radiometers that observe thermal emission from the atmospheric limb in broad spectral regions centered near 118, 190, 240, and 640 GHz, and 2.5 THz. It was launched July 15, 2004 on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Aura satellite and started full-up science operations on August 13, 2004. An atmospheric limb scan and radiometric calibration for all bands are performed routinely every 25 s. Vertical profiles are retrieved every 165 km along the suborbital track, covering 82/spl deg/S to 82/spl deg/N latitudes on each orbit. Instrument performance to date has been excellent; data have been made publicly available; and initial science results have been obtained.

[1]  Piers M. Forster,et al.  Radiative forcing and temperature trends from stratospheric ozone changes , 1997 .

[2]  Paul A. Wagner,et al.  EOS MLS Science Data Processing System: a description of architecture and capabilities , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[3]  Wesley A. Traub,et al.  Validation of Aura MLS HOx measurements with remote‐sensing balloon instruments , 2006 .

[4]  M. Molina,et al.  Stratospheric sink for chlorofluoromethanes: chlorine atomc-atalysed destruction of ozone , 1974, Nature.

[5]  J. B. Kumer,et al.  Chemical depletion of ozone in the Arctic lower stratosphere during winter 1992–93 , 1994, Nature.

[6]  Paul C. Stek,et al.  EOS Microwave Limb Sounder GHz optics design and eld-of-vie w calibration , 2005 .

[7]  William G. Read,et al.  Dehydration in the tropical tropopause layer: Implications from the UARS Microwave Limb Sounder , 2004, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

[8]  Reinhard Beer,et al.  TES on the aura mission: scientific objectives, measurements, and analysis overview , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[9]  William G. Read,et al.  Direct retrieval of line‐of‐sight atmospheric structure from limb sounding observations , 2000 .

[10]  S. Bühler.  Microwave Limb Sounding , 2002 .

[11]  Peter Preusse,et al.  Satellite observations of upper stratospheric and mesospheric OH: The HOxdilemma , 2000 .

[12]  Dong L. Wu,et al.  The two‐day wave in EOS MLS temperature and wind measurements during 2004–2005 winter , 2005 .

[13]  Michael J. Schwartz,et al.  Polarized Radiative Transfer for Zeeman-Split Oxygen Lines in the EOS MLS Forward Model , 2005 .

[14]  S. Weinreb,et al.  Full-waveguide band, 90 to 140 GHz, MMIC amplifier module , 1997, 1997 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest.

[15]  Michael J. Schwartz,et al.  EOS MLS forward model polarized radiative transfer for Zeeman-split oxygen lines , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[16]  William G. Read,et al.  Enhancements in lower stratospheric CH3CN observed by the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite Microwave Limb Sounder following boreal forest fires , 2004 .

[17]  Herbert M. Pickett,et al.  Submillimeter, millimeter, and microwave spectral line catalog. , 1985 .

[18]  Edward A. Cohen,et al.  Pressure broadening of ClO by N2 and O2 near 204 and 649 GHz and new frequency measurements between 632 and 725 GHz , 1994 .

[19]  William G. Read,et al.  Three‐dimensional structure and evolution of stratospheric HNO3 based on UARS Microwave Limb Sounder measurements , 2004 .

[20]  Dong L. Wu,et al.  EOS MLS cloud ice measurements and cloudy-sky radiative transfer model , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[21]  G. E. Peckham,et al.  Calibration of the Microwave Limb Sounder on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite , 1994, Proceedings of IGARSS '94 - 1994 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[22]  Lance E. Christensen,et al.  Early validation analyses of atmospheric profiles from EOS MLS on the aura Satellite , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[23]  Michael J. Schwartz,et al.  Carbon monoxide measured by the EOS Microwave Limb Sounder on Aura: First results , 2005 .

[24]  Robert F. Jarnot,et al.  Radiometric and spectral performance and calibration of the GHz bands of EOS MLS , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[25]  J. Farman,et al.  Large losses of total ozone in Antarctica reveal seasonal ClOx/NOx interaction , 1985, Nature.

[26]  Brian J. Drouin,et al.  Temperature dependent pressure induced lineshape of O3 rotational transitions in air , 2004 .

[27]  Michael J. Schwartz,et al.  Polar processing and development of the 2004 Antarctic ozone hole: First results from MLS on Aura , 2005 .

[28]  S. Sherwood,et al.  UARS/MLS Cloud Ice Measurements: Implications for H2O Transport near the Tropopause , 2005 .

[29]  Peter H. Siegel,et al.  A 2.5 THz receiver front-end for spaceborne applications , 1998, 1998 IEEE Sixth International Conference on Terahertz Electronics Proceedings. THZ 98. (Cat. No.98EX171).

[30]  Herbert M. Pickett,et al.  Microwave Limb Sounder THz module on Aura , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[31]  Claudia Emde,et al.  Cirrus induced polarization in 122 GHz aura Microwave Limb Sounder radiances , 2005 .

[32]  Heikki Saari,et al.  The ozone monitoring instrument , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[33]  Yu Gu,et al.  Comparisons of EOS MLS cloud ice measurements with ECMWF analyses and GCM simulations: Initial results , 2005 .

[34]  Michael J. Schwartz,et al.  The clear-sky unpolarized forward model for the EOS aura microwave limb sounder (MLS) , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[35]  J. Houghton,et al.  Climate change 2001 : the scientific basis , 2001 .

[36]  Brian J. Drouin,et al.  Temperature dependent pressure-induced lineshape of the HCl J=1←0 rotational transition in nitrogen and oxygen , 2004 .

[37]  D. Fahey,et al.  Scientific assessment of ozone depletion, 2002 , 2003 .

[38]  Peter H. Siegel,et al.  A 2.5-THz receiver front end for spaceborne applications , 2000 .

[39]  L. Froidevaux,et al.  Stratospheric CIO and ozone from the Microwave Limb Sounder on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite , 1993, Nature.

[40]  Reinhard Beer,et al.  Overview of the EOS aura mission , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[41]  H. Müller,et al.  Submillimeter, millimeter, and microwave spectral line catalog. , 1985, Applied optics.

[42]  William G. Read,et al.  UARS Microwave Limb Sounder upper tropospheric humidity measurement: Method and validation , 2001 .

[43]  P. Forster,et al.  Assessing the climate impact of trends in stratospheric water vapor , 2002 .

[44]  Roy W. Spencer,et al.  How dry is the tropical free troposphere? : Implications for global warming theory , 1997 .

[45]  Dong L. Wu,et al.  Satellite observations of atmospheric variances: A possible indication of gravity waves , 1996 .

[46]  Richard E. Cofield,et al.  Design and field-of-view calibration of 114-660-GHz optics of the Earth observing system microwave limb sounder , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[47]  Murry L. Salby,et al.  Sampling Theory for Asynoptic Satellite Observations. Part II: Fast Fourier Synoptic Mapping , 1982 .

[48]  Remi LaBelle,et al.  A Channelized 2nd IF/LO Downconverter for the EOS Microwave Limb Sounder , 2003, 2003 33rd European Microwave Conference, 2003.

[49]  M. Joan Alexander,et al.  Microwave Limb Sounder observations of gravity waves in the stratosphere: A climatology and interpretation , 2000 .

[50]  Bin Wang,et al.  Convective outflow of South Asian pollution: A global CTM simulation compared with EOS MLS observations , 2005 .

[51]  G. Siebes,et al.  The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite microwave limb sounder instrument , 1993 .

[52]  Richard B. Rood,et al.  Upper-tropospheric water vapor from UARS MLS , 1995 .

[53]  Peter H. Siegel,et al.  Heterodyne radiometer development for the Earth Observing System Microwave Limb Sounder , 1993, Photonics West - Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering.

[54]  Stanley C. Solomon,et al.  The mystery of the Antarctic Ozone “Hole” , 1988 .

[55]  M. McCormick,et al.  Stratospheric water vapor increases over the past half‐century , 2001 .

[56]  V. L. Orkin,et al.  Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2010 , 2003 .

[57]  William G. Read,et al.  EOS Microwave Limb Sounder observations of the Antarctic polar vortex breakup in 2004 , 2005 .

[58]  William G. Read,et al.  Retrieval algorithms for the EOS Microwave limb sounder (MLS) , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[59]  William G. Read,et al.  Enhancements in lower stratospheric CH3CN observed by UARS MLS following boreal forest fires , 2022 .

[60]  L. Froidevaux,et al.  Interhemispheric Differences in Polar Stratospheric HNO3, H2O, CIO, and O3 , 1995, Science.

[61]  S. Solomon,et al.  Response of the stratospheric temperatures and ozone to past and future increases in stratospheric humidity , 2001 .

[62]  Richard R. Lay,et al.  The UARS and EOS Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) Experiments. , 1999 .