Observations of stratospheric and mesospheric O3 with a millimeter-wave radiometer at Rikubetsu, Japan

Abstract We have been measuring brightness temperature spectra of the atmospheric ozone (O3) emission at 110.83 GHz with a millimeter-wave radiometer (MWR) located at Rikubetsu, Japan, since November 1999. Tropospheric opacities, which were also measured with the MWR and were used to take into account attenuation of the O3 signal from the stratosphere and mesosphere, were corrected using the tropospheric opacity calculated from radiosonde data. Temporal variations of the measured spectral intensity of O3, likely due to degradations of the superconductor–insulator–superconductor receiver and of the vessel for cold calibration load, were also corrected using scaling factors derived from ozonesonde data up to an average height of 35 km and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) monthly mean climatology above the sonde height. The vertical profiles of the O3 mixing ratio in the altitude range from 24 to 56 km were retrieved from the spectra with the optimal estimation approach. The retrieval errors from uncertainties in the scaling factor, the corrected tropospheric opacity, and atmospheric temperature, as well as those from spectral noise, were evaluated, and we found that the main retrieval errors resulted from uncertainties in the scaling factor and tropospheric opacity. The retrieved O3 profiles were compared with those from the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV/2), the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER), and the MLS instruments onboard satellites. The retrieved O3 mixing ratios at individual levels agreed with the MLS version 3.3 or 3.4 data with an average difference better than ±5 % and a standard deviation of 4–9 %. Additionally, the retrieved O3 profiles were in reasonable agreement with the SABER version 2.0 O3 profiles and the SBUV/2 version 8.6 O3 profiles, in line with the validation results of their satellite data in the earlier literature.

[1]  P. Bhartia,et al.  Validation of ozone monthly zonal mean profiles obtained from the version 8.6 Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet algorithm , 2013 .

[2]  Jean-Luc Moncet,et al.  Development and recent evaluation of the MT_CKD model of continuum absorption , 2012, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[3]  J. Notholt,et al.  Atmospheric Measurement Techniques The ground-based MW radiometer OZORAM on Spitsbergen – description and status of stratospheric and mesospheric O 3-measurements , 2010 .

[4]  R. Reynolds,et al.  The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project , 1996, Renewable Energy.

[5]  L. Froidevaux,et al.  Interactive comment on “ Diurnal variations of stratospheric ozone measured by ground-based microwave remote sensing at the Mauna Loa NDACC site : measurement validation and GEOSCCM model comparison ” , 2014 .

[6]  A. Thompson,et al.  Assessment of the performance of ECC‐ozonesondes under quasi‐flight conditions in the environmental simulation chamber: Insights from the Juelich Ozone Sonde Intercomparison Experiment (JOSIE) , 2007 .

[7]  N. Schneider,et al.  Validation of ground‐based observations of stratomesospheric ozone , 2003 .

[8]  E. R. Polovtseva,et al.  The HITRAN2012 molecular spectroscopic database , 2013 .

[9]  Y. Fujinuma,et al.  Ground-Based Millimeter-Wave Radiometer for Measuring the Stratospheric Ozone over Rikubetsu, Japan , 2007 .

[10]  T. Flury,et al.  Ozone depletion, water vapor increase, and PSC generation at midlatitudes by the 2008 major stratospheric warming , 2009 .

[11]  B. Connor,et al.  Intercomparison of remote sounding instruments , 1999 .

[12]  J. M. Hollis,et al.  Absolute brightness temperature measurements at 3.5-mm wavelength. [of sun, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn] , 1980 .

[13]  J. H. Van Vleck,et al.  The Absorption of Microwaves by Oxygen , 1947 .

[14]  Gary A. Morris,et al.  On the use of the correction factor with Japanese ozonesonde data , 2012 .

[15]  Russell S. Vose,et al.  Overview of the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive , 2006 .

[16]  G. Reinsel,et al.  Evidence for slowdown in stratospheric ozone loss: First stage of ozone recovery , 2003 .

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

[18]  Yasuhiro Sasano,et al.  Vertical Profiles of Temperature and Ozone observed during DYANA Campaign with the NIES Ozone Lidar System at Tsukuba , 1992 .

[19]  H. Maezawa,et al.  Ground-based millimeter-wave observation of stratospheric ClO over Atacama, Chile in the mid-latitude Southern Hemisphere , 2012 .

[20]  M. Molina,et al.  Chlorofluoromethanes in the Environment , 1975 .

[21]  J. Russell,et al.  Validation of Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics/Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (TIMED/SABER) v1.07 ozone at 9.6 μm in altitude range 15–70 km , 2009 .

[22]  M. Yu. Tretyakova,et al.  60-GHz oxygen band : precise broadening and central frequencies of fine-structure lines , absolute absorption profile at atmospheric pressure , and revision of mixing coefficients , 2005 .

[23]  Clive D Rodgers,et al.  Inverse Methods for Atmospheric Sounding: Theory and Practice , 2000 .

[24]  P. Solomon,et al.  A ground-based technique for millimeter wave spectroscopic observations of stratospheric trace constituents , 1988 .

[25]  Andrew B. Orr,et al.  Assessment for Decision-Makers: Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2014 , 2014 .

[26]  Gang Li,et al.  The HITRAN 2008 molecular spectroscopic database , 2005 .

[27]  J. Barnett,et al.  Zonal mean temperature, pressure, zonal wind and geopotential height as functions of latitude , 1990 .

[28]  Matthew T. DeLand,et al.  Solar Backscatter UV (SBUV) total ozone and profile algorithm , 2012 .

[29]  Hideo Ogawa,et al.  An Integrated Sideband-Separating SIS Mixer Based on Waveguide Split Block for 100 GHz Band with 4.0–8.0 GHz IF , 2004 .

[30]  Hiroaki Yamamoto,et al.  Millimeter-Wave Radiometer for the Measurement of Stratospheric ClO Using a Superconductive (SIS) Receiver Installed in the Southern Hemisphere , 2002 .

[31]  Kei Shiomi,et al.  Retrievals of Total and Tropospheric Ozone From GOSAT Thermal Infrared Spectral Radiances , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[32]  L. Froidevaux,et al.  Ground-based stratospheric O 3 and HNO 3 measurements at Thule, Greenland: an intercomparison with Aura MLS observations , 2013 .

[33]  D. Newnham,et al.  Atmospheric ozone above Troll station, Antarctica observed by a ground based microwave radiometer , 2013 .

[34]  Stanley C. Solomon,et al.  Stratospheric ozone depletion: A review of concepts and history , 1999 .

[35]  Niklaus Kämpfer,et al.  Intraseasonal oscillations of stratospheric ozone above Switzerland , 2012 .