Retrieval of stratospheric aerosol extinction coefficients from sun-normalized Ozone Mapper and Profiler Suite Limb Profiler (OMPS-LP) measurements

Abstract

A new retrieval approach for obtaining vertical profiles of the aerosol extinction coefficient from measurements of scattered solar light in the limb-viewing geometry made by the Ozone Mapper and Profiler Suite Limb Profiler (OMPS-LP) instrument is presented. In contrast to many other published limb-scatter retrievals, our new algorithm does not employ normalization by a limb measurement at an upper tangent height. Instead, the measured limb radiances are normalized to solar irradiance. The main advantage of this approach is an almost complete elimination of the dependence of the retrieval results on the prior aerosol extinction profile used in the retrieval. This makes the retrieval better suited for the analysis of observation scenes with highly elevated aerosol plumes, such as those that occurred after the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha′apai volcanic eruption in January 2022. The results from the new approach were compared to the vertical profiles of the aerosol extinction coefficients retrieved from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III on the International Space Station (SAGE III/ISS) and the Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imaging System (OSIRIS). In general, agreement within 25 % between the different data products was observed in the 18–23 km altitude range, although larger differences were seen after very strong volcanic eruptions and wildfires. In comparison with OSIRIS, larger differences are seen at high southern latitudes (above 60° S). The new data product was used to investigate the evolution of the aerosol plume after the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha′apai volcanic eruption.