ALBERT

Description: Results of a simulation study on the effects of optically thick stratospheric sulfate aerosol layers on the backscattered ultraviolet radiation (buv) in the range 256-340 nm are presented. In general, the increased Mie scattering produced by the aerosols results in an enhancement of the buv radiation. The increase is approximately linear with optical depth and strongly depends on solar zenith angle and aerosol layer altitude in relation to the ozone maximum. The effect is greatest at those wavelenghts whose contribution functions peak in the vicinity of the densest part of the aerosol layer. The aerosol induced perturbation of the buv field affects the ozone profile retrieval from space measurements by the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Experiment (SBUV) experiment. In the tropical stratosphere, the retrieved ozone between 25 and 45 km is underestimated as a result of increased Mie scattering. On the other hand, an algorithm related effect causes the retrieved ozone below 25 km to be overestimated by an amount similar to the stratospheric deficit.

Description: Nimbus-7 and Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) data were compared with the quantity of high, thin cirrus clouds over a 6 yr period. Three separate data analysis techniques are described which were used to derive cloud cover and total upwelling radiance values from the satellite data. Zonal average cirrus clouds amounts are compared with surface observations and SAGE satellite data, and comparisons are made between the cloud amount estimates made with ERB data and data from other Nimbus-7 instruments. All Nimbus-7 instrumental data indicated cloud amounts and frequency of occurrence patterns which were commensurate with surface observations, except in high latitude zones.

Description: The spatial and temporal characteristics of the total cloud amount (TCA) were determined on the bases of 2 yr of data collected by Nimbus-7. The instruments used were the 11.5 microns channel of the Temperature Humidity IR radiometer and the 0.38 micron channel of the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer. Comparisons were made between long-term averages and large variations during the El Nino/Southern Oscillation event of 1982/83. Separate attention was also given to the TCA for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and to TCA averages over specific large-scale global features such as deserts.

Description: The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer on board Nimbus 7 is used to infer the UV surface and cloud reflectance at 370 nm. Cloudless surface reflectivity was analyzed on a global basis for all surface types for several months. The UV surface reflectivity varies from 2 percent for some forest and grassland regions to 14 percent for some sandy desert areas. A notable exception is the large salt flats of Bolivia, which have a reflectivity of about 60 percent. Cloud reflectivity was also analyzed for clouds located at three levels in the atmosphere, as determined by the 11.5 micron channel of the Temperature Humidity Infrared Radiometer. Average cloud reflectivity at 370 nm ranges from 52 percent for low clouds (tops less than 2 km) to 76 percent for high clouds (tops greater than 7 km at the equator, decreasing to greater than 4 km at poles).

Description: We show the comparisons between ground-based measurements of spectrally integrated (300 nm to 380 nm) ultraviolet (UV) irradiance with satellite estimates from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) total ozone and reflectivity data for the whole period of TOMS measurements (1979-2000) over the Meteorological Observatory of Moscow State University (MO MSU), Moscow, Russia. Several aspects of the comparisons are analyzed, including effects of cloudiness, aerosol, and snow cover. Special emphasis is given to the effect of different spatial and temporal averaging of ground-based data when comparing with low-resolution satellite measurements (TOMS footprint area 50-200 sq km). The comparisons in cloudless scenes with different aerosol loading have revealed TOMS irradiance overestimates from +5% to +20%. A-posteriori correction of the TOMS data accounting for boundary layer aerosol absorption (single scattering albedo of 0.92) eliminates the bias for cloud-free conditions. The single scattering albedo was independently verified using CIMEL sun and sky-radiance measurements at MO MSU in September 2001. The mean relative difference between TOMS UV estimates and ground UV measurements mainly lies within 1 10% for both snow-free and snow period with a tendency to TOMS overestimation in snow-free period especially at overcast conditions when the positive bias reaches 15-17%. The analysis of interannual UV variations shows quite similar behavior for both TOMS and ground measurements (correlation coefficient r=0.8). No long-term trend in the annual mean bias was found for both clear-sky and all-sky conditions with snow and without snow. Both TOMS and ground data show positive trend in UV irradiance between 1979 and 2000. The UV trend is attributed to decreases in both cloudiness and aerosol optical thickness during the late 1990's over Moscow region. However, if the analyzed period is extended to include pre-TOMS era (1968-2000 period), no trend in ground UV irradiance is detected.

Description: Deviations of radiosonde reports' geopotential heights from the zonal mean are examined. In the summer Northern Hemisphere stratosphere, systematic differences are found between radiosonde instrument types. Persistent meridional wind anomalies, approximately constant in magnitude and fixed in location, have previously been reported in the summer stratosphere, and one such anomaly over Europe is found to be co-located with boundaries between regions in which differing types of radiosonde instruments are used. The magnitude and orientation of the radiosonde geopotential height biases are consistent with the wind anomalies. Because the overall winds tend to be light in this region and season, these wind anomalies can represent significant perturbations of the flow and must be considered when interpreting the results of trajectory and diagnostic studies.

Description: A network of 10 southern hemisphere tropical and Subtropical stations, designated the Southern Hemisphere ADditional OZonesondes, (SHADOZ) project and established from operational sites, provided over 1000 ozone profiles during the period 1998-2000. Balloon-borne electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) ozonesondes, combined with standard radiosondes for pressure, temperature and relative humidity measurements, collected profiles in the troposphere and lower- to mid-stratosphere at: Ascension Island; Nairobi, Kenya; Irene, South Africa: Reunion Island, Watukosek Java; Fiji; Tahiti; American Samoa; San Cristobal, Galapagos; Natal, Brazil.

Description: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Airborne Raman Ozone, Temperature and Aerosol Lidar (AROTEL) measured extremely cold temperatures during all three deployments (December 1-16, 1999, January 14-29, 2000 and February 27-March 15, 2000) of the Sage III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE). Temperatures were significantly below values observed in previous years with large regions regularly below 191 K and frequent temperature retrievals yielding values at or below 187 K. Temperatures well below the saturation point of type I polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) were regularly encountered but their presence was not well correlated with PSCs observed by the NASA Langley Research Center's Aerosol Lidar co-located with AROTEL. Temperature measurements by meteorological sondes launched within areas traversed by the DC-8 showed minimum temperatures consistent in time and vertical extent with those derived from AROTEL data. Calculations to establish whether PSCs could exist at measured AROTEL temperatures and observed mixing ratios of nitric acid and water vapor showed large regions favorable to PSC formation. On several occasions measured AROTEL temperatures up to 10 K below the NAT saturation temperature were insufficient to produce PSCs even though measured values of nitric acid and water were sufficient for their formation.

Description: A recently developed technique called cloud slicing used for deriving upper tropospheric ozone from the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument combined together with temperature-humidity and infrared radiometer (THIR) is no longer applicable to the Earth Probe TOMS (EPTOMS) because EPTOMS does not have an instrument to measure cloud top temperatures. For continuing monitoring of tropospheric ozone between 200-500hPa and testing the feasibility of this technique across spacecrafts, EPTOMS data are co-located in time and space with the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-8 infrared data for 2001 and early 2002, covering most of North and South America (45S-45N and 120W-30W). The maximum column amounts for the mid-latitudinal sites of the northern hemisphere are found in the March-May season. For the mid-latitudinal sites of the southern hemisphere, the highest column amounts are found in the September-November season, although overall seasonal variability is smaller than those of the northern hemisphere. The tropical sites show the weakest seasonal variability compared to higher latitudes. The derived results for selected sites are cross validated qualitatively with the seasonality of ozonesonde observations and the results from THIR analyses over the 1979-1984 time period due to the lack of available ozonesonde measurements to study sites for 2001. These comparisons show a reasonably good agreement among THIR, ozonesonde observations, and cloud slicing-derived column ozone. With very limited co-located EPTOMS/GOES data sets, the cloud slicing technique is still viable to derive the upper tropospheric column ozone. Two new variant approaches, High-Low (HL) cloud slicing and ozone profile derivation from cloud slicing are introduced to estimate column ozone amounts using the entire cloud information in the troposphere.

Description: The Earth Observing System (EOS) Aura satellite is scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2004. The Aura mission is designed to attack three science questions: (1) Is the ozone layer recovering as expected? (2) What are the sources and processes that control tropospheric pollutants? (3) What is the quantitative impact of constituents on climate change? Aura will answer these questions by globally measuring a comprehensive set of trace gases and aerosols at high vertical and horizontal resolution. Fig. 1 shows the Aura spacecraft and its four instruments.