Ground-based Ku-band microwave observations of ozone in the polar middle atmosphere

• Published in: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
• Main Authors: D. A. Newnham, M. A. Clilverd, W. D. J. Clark, M. Kosch, P. T. Verronen, A. E. E. Rogers
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2022
• Subjects: Environmental engineering; TA170-171; Earthwork. Foundations; TA715-787; Arctic; Ny-Ålesund; Ny Ålesund; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2361-2022; https://doaj.org/article/025cab92bec8459ba73c7bc00696fac5

Ground-based observations of 11.072 GHz atmospheric ozone ( O 3 ) emission have been made using the Ny-Ålesund Ozone in the Mesosphere Instrument (NAOMI) at the UK Arctic Research Station (latitude 78 ∘ 55 ′ 0 ′′ N, longitude 11 ∘ 55 ′ 59 ′′ E), Spitsbergen. Seasonally averaged O 3 vertical profiles in the Arctic polar mesosphere–lower thermosphere region for night-time and twilight conditions in the period 15 August 2017 to 15 March 2020 have been retrieved over the altitude range 62–98 km . NAOMI measurements are compared with corresponding, overlapping observations by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) satellite instrument. The NAOMI and SABER version 2.0 data are binned according to the SABER instrument 60 d yaw cycles into nominal 3-month “winter” (15 December–15 March), “autumn” (15 August–15 November), and “summer” (15 April–15 July) periods. The NAOMI observations show the same year-to-year and seasonal variabilities as the SABER 9.6 µm O 3 data. The winter night-time (solar zenith angle, SZA ≥ 110 ∘ ) and twilight (75 ∘ ≤ SZA ≤ 110 ∘ ) NAOMI and SABER 9.6 µm O 3 volume mixing ratio (VMR) profiles agree to within the measurement uncertainties. However, for autumn twilight conditions the SABER 9.6 µm O 3 secondary maximum VMR values are higher than NAOMI over altitudes 88–97 km by 47 % and 59 %, respectively in 2017 and 2018. Comparing the two SABER channels which measure O 3 at different wavelengths and use different processing schemes, the 9.6 µm O 3 autumn twilight VMR data for the three years 2017–2019 are higher than the corresponding 1.27 µm measurements with the largest difference (58 %) in the 65–95 km altitude range similar to the NAOMI observation. The SABER 9.6 µm O 3 summer daytime (SZA < 75 ∘ ) mesospheric O 3 VMR is also consistently higher than the 1.27 µm measurement, confirming previously reported differences between the SABER 9.6 µm channel and measurements of mesospheric O 3 by other satellite instruments.