Highlights from a Decade of OMI-TOMS Total Ozone Observations on EOS Aura

• Main Authors: Vassilkov, Alexander, Labow, Gordon J., Joiner, Joanna, McPeters, Richard D., Haffner, David P., Ziemke, Jerald R., Bhartia, Pawan K., Chiou, Er-Woon
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Earth Resources and Remote Sensing; Geophysics; Arctic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150000358

Total ozone measurements from OMI have been instrumental in meeting Aura science objectives. In the last decade, OMI has extended the length of the TOMS total ozone record to over 35 years to monitor stratospheric ozone recovery. OMI-TOMS total ozone measurements have also been combined synergistically with measurements from other Aura instruments and MLS in particular, which provides vertically resolved information that complements the total O3 mapping capability of OMI. With this combined approach, the EOS Aura platform has produced more accurate and detailed measurements of tropospheric ozone. This has led in turn to greater understanding of the sources and transport of tropospheric ozone as well as its radiative forcing effect. The combined use of OMI and MLS data was also vital to the analysis of the severe Arctic ozone depletion event of 2011. The quality of OMI-TOMS total O3 data used in these studies is the result of several factors: a mature and well-validated algorithm, the striking stability of the OMI instrument, and OMI's hyperspectral capabilities used to derive cloud pressures. The latter has changed how we think about the effects of clouds on total ozone retrievals. We will discuss the evolution of the operational V8.5 algorithm and provide an overview and motivation for V9. After reviewing results and developments of the past decade, we finally highlight how ozone observations from EOS Aura are playing an important role in new ozone mapping missions.