Cloud Detection and Clearing for the Earth Observing System Terra Satellite Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) Experiment.

The Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument, which was launched aboard the Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra spacecraft on 18 December 1999, is designed to measure tropospheric CO and CH(4) by use of a nadir-viewing geometry. The measurements are taken at 4.7 mum in the thermal emission and absorption for the CO mixing ratio profile retrieval and at 2.3 and 2.2 mum in the reflected solar region for the total CO column amount and CH(4) column amount retrieval, respectively. To achieve the required measurement accuracy, it is critical to identify and remove cloud contamination in the radiometric signals. We describe an algorithm to detect cloudy pixels, to reconstruct clear column radiance for pixels with partial cloud covers, and to estimate equivalent cloud top height for overcast conditions to allow CO profile retrievals above clouds. The MOPITT channel radiances, as well as the first-guess calculations, are simulated with a fast forward model with input atmospheric profiles from ancillary data sets. The precision of the retrieved CO profiles and total column amounts in cloudy atmospheres is within the expected ?10% range. Validations of the cloud-detecting thresholds with the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer airborne simulator data and MOPITT airborne test radiometer measurements were performed. The validation results showed that the MOPITT cloud detection thresholds work well for scenes covered with more than 5-10% cloud cover if the uncertainties in the model input profiles are less than 2 K for temperature, 10% for water vapor, and 5% for CO and CH(4).

Satellite remote sensing of tropospheric CO and CH(4): forward model studies of the MOPITT instrument.

The Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument is designed to measure tropospheric CO and CH(4) from a spaceborne platform by the use of infrared gas correlation radiometers. We describe the forward model that is used as the basis for the retrieval algorithm. We present the techniques used to model the instrument and describe the radiative transfer involved in the measurement process. Calculations have been performed to assess the sensitivity of the measured radiance to changes in the target-gas concentration profiles, changes in the concentration of contaminating constituents, and to variations in the parameters that describe reflection and emission of radiation at the Earth's surface.

Selection of sounding channels for the High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder.

We describe the scientific design work behind the selection of the IR spectral passbands for the 21 sounding channels of the High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS), which is scheduled to fly aboard the Earth Observing System chemistry platform at the beginning of the next century. At least one radiometer channel must be used for each gas that is being measured. Preferably the interfering contributions to the radiance by other gases in a channel should be small, but the principal requirements are that the desired emission be measured with high signal-to-noise ratio and that there be separate channels for the measurement of interfering species. However, more than one channel is required for providing full altitude coverage of those target gases such as CO(2), H(2)O, and O(3), which have emission bands whose centers become optically thick in the middle atmosphere. Further channels, in which gaseous absorption is low, are required for the characterization of aerosol effects. We describe the HIRDLS channels selected for each gas, with emphasis on signal-to-noise considerations and altitude coverage, the elimination of contaminating signal between channels, and nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium processes for high-altitude sounding and space view definition.

Observed ozone response to variations in solar ultraviolet radiation.

During the winter of 1979, the solar ultraviolet irradiance varied with a period of 13.5 days and an amplitude of 1 percent. The zonal mean ozone values in the tropics varied with the solar irradiance, with an amplitude of 0.25 to 0.60 percent. This observation agrees with earlier calculations, although the response may be overestimated. These results imply changes in ozone at an altitude of 48 kilometers of up to 12 percent over an 11-year solar cycle. Interpretation of ozone changes in the upper stratosphere will require measurements of solar ultraviolet radiation at wavelengths near 200 nanometers.

Infrared limb scanning in the presence of horizontal temperature gradients: an operational approach.

Simulation and analysis of IR limb radiance obtained by a satellite-borne IR limb scanner have demonstrated that horizontal temperature gradients in the atmosphere play an important role in limiting the accuracy of retrieved temperature and constituents below approximately 25 km. A simple operational approach to converting these observed radiances to equivalent spherical radiances is developed which preserves the advantages of the sphericity assumption in the inversion process.

Sounding the stratosphere and mesosphere by infrared limb scanning from space.

Inversion of the measurements obtained by the infrared limb scanner on the Nimbus 6 satellite has demonstrated that the stratospheric and mesospheric temperatures and ozone concentrations may be obtained remotely from space with accuracy and precision comparable to in situ methods. Such global data have many applications in middle atmospheric research and operational temperature sounding.

Temperature, cloud structure, and dynamics of venus middle atmosphere by infrared remote sensing from pioneer orbiter.

Further results from the Venus orbiter radiometric temperature experiment (VORTEX) on the Pioneer orbiter are presented. These are used to characterize the three-dimensional temperature field, the cloud structure, and the dynamics of the 60-to 130-kilometer altitude region of the Venus atmosphere. One of the new discoveries is a "dipole" structure at high latitudes, with two hot spots rotating around the pole, surrounded by banks of cold cloud.

Design and construction of a temperature wave generator.

A sinusoidal temperature wave generator has been developed and constructed. It consists of a cold plate, a heating coil, and an electronic feedback control with a thermocouple sensor. The design criteria, heating and cooling calculations, and electronic and mechanical construction details are presented and described. Results are shown, and possible modifications are discussed.

Correction of random exponential band transmissions for Doppler effects.

The transmission of a randomly spaced array of Lorentz lines whose intensities are exponentially distributed may be simply corrected for doppler effects. Evaluation of the correction exponent requires an integration over the Voigt line profile, which may be done once and for all. The integration is described and results presented in a table. From these results, the mean curve of growth of a single Voigt line in such an array may easily be calculated. Curtis' approximation, applied to such a band, gives equivalent widths several tens of percent too large in many situations.