150 research outputs found

    Highlights from the 11-Year Record of Tropospheric Ozone from OMI/MLS and Continuation of that Long Record Using OMPS Measurements

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    Since October 2004 the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) onboard the Aura satellite have provided over 11 years of continuous tropospheric ozone measurements. These OMI/MLS measurements have been used in many studies to evaluate dynamical and photochemical effects caused by ENSO, the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and shorter timescales, as well as long-term trends and the effects of deep convection on tropospheric ozone. Given that the OMI and MLS instruments have now extended well beyond their expected lifetimes, our goal is to continue their long record of tropospheric ozone using recent Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS) measurements. The OMPS onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership NPP satellite was launched on October 28, 2011 and is comprised of three instruments: the nadir mapper, the nadir profiler, and the limb profiler. Our study combines total column ozone from the OMPS nadir mapper with stratospheric column ozone from the OMPS limb profiler to measure tropospheric ozone residual. The time period for the OMPS measurements is March 2012 present. For the OMPS limb profiler retrievals, the OMPS v2 algorithm from Goddard is tested against the University of Saskatchewan (USask) Algorithm. The retrieved ozone profiles from each of these algorithms are evaluated with ozone profiles from both ozonesondes and the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS). Effects on derived OMPS tropospheric ozone caused by the 2015-2016 El Nino event are highlighted. This recent El Nino produced anomalies in tropospheric ozone throughout the tropical Pacific involving increases of approximately 10 DU over Indonesia and decreases approximately 5-10 DU in the eastern Pacific. These changes in ozone due to El Nino were predominantly dynamically-induced, caused by the eastward shift in sea-surface temperature and convection from the western to the eastern Pacific

    Which solar EUV indices are best for reconstructing the solar EUV irradiance ?

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    The solar EUV irradiance is of key importance for space weather. Most of the time, however, surrogate quantities such as EUV indices have to be used by lack of continuous and spectrally resolved measurements of the irradiance. The ability of such proxies to reproduce the irradiance from different solar atmospheric layers is usually investigated by comparing patterns of temporal correlations. We consider instead a statistical approach. The TIMED/SEE experiment, which has been continuously operating since Feb. 2002, allows for the first time to compare in a statistical manner the EUV spectral irradiance to five EUV proxies: the sunspot number, the f10.7, Ca K, and Mg II indices, and the He I equivalent width. Using multivariate statistical methods such as multidimensional scaling, we represent in a single graph the measure of relatedness between these indices and various strong spectral lines. The ability of each index to reproduce the EUV irradiance is discussed; it is shown why so few lines can be effectively reconstructed from them. All indices exhibit comparable performance, apart from the sunspot number, which is the least appropriate. No single index can satisfactorily describe both the level of variability on time scales beyond 27 days, and relative changes of irradiance on shorter time scales.Comment: 6 figures, to appear in Adv. Space. Re

    Nimbus-7 TOMS Version 7 Calibration

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    This report describes an improved instrument characterization used for the Version 7 processing of the Nimbus-7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data record. An improved internal calibration technique referred to as spectral discrimination is used to provide long-term calibration precision of +/- 1%/decade in total column ozone amount. A revised wavelength scale results in a day one calibration that agrees with other satellite and ground-based measurements of total ozone, while a wavelength independent adjustment of the initial radiometric calibration constants provides good agreement with surface reflectivity measured by other satellite-borne ultraviolet measurements. The impact of other aspects of the Nimbus-7 TOMS instrument performance are also discussed. The Version 7 data should be used in all future studies involving the Nimbus-7 TOMS measurements of ozone. The data are available through the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Distributive Active Archive Center (DAAC)

    Trends in Global Tropospheric Ozone Inferred from a Composite Record of TOMS/OMI/MLS/OMPS Satellite Measurements and the MERRA-2 GMI Simulation

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    Past studies have suggested that ozone in the troposphere has increased globally throughout much of the 20th century due to increases in anthropogenic emissions and transport. We show, by combining satellite measurements with a chemical transport model, that during the last four decades tropospheric ozone does indeed indicate increases that are global in nature, yet still highly regional. Satellite ozone measurements from Nimbus-7 and Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) are merged with ozone measurements from the Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument/Microwave Limb Sounder (OMI/MLS) to determine trends in tropospheric ozone for 19792016. Both TOMS (19792005) and OMI/MLS (20052016) depict large increases in tropospheric ozone from the Near East to India and East Asia and further eastward over the Pacific Ocean. The 38-year merged satellite record shows total net change over this region of about +6 to +7 Dobson units (DU) (i.e., 15 %20 % of average background ozone), with the largest increase (4 DU) occurring during the 20052016 Aura period. The Global Modeling Initiative (GMI) chemical transport model with time-varying emissions is used to aid in the interpretation of tropospheric ozone trends for 19802016. The GMI simulation for the combined record also depicts the greatest increases of +6 to +7 DU over India and East Asia, very similar to the satellite measurements. In regions of significant increases in tropospheric column ozone (TCO) the trends are a factor of 22.5 larger for the Aura record when compared to the earlier TOMS record; for India and East Asia the trends in TCO for both GMI and satellite measurements are +3 DU decade(exp 1) or greater during 20052016 compared to about +1.2 to +1.4 DU decade(exp 1) for 19792005. The GMI simulation and satellite data also reveal a tropospheric ozone increases in +4 to +5 DU for the 38-year record over central Africa and the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Both the GMI simulation and satellite-measured tropospheric ozone during the latter Aura time period show increases of +3 DU decade1 over the N Atlantic and NE Pacific
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