SCIAMACHY stratospheric aerosol extinction profile retrieval using the OMPS/LP algorithm

Abstract

The Ozone Mapper and Profiler Suite, Limp Profiler (OMPS/LP) algorithm is used to retrieve ozone concentration and aerosol extinction profiles using a series of 120 SCIAMACHY limb measurements collocated with SAGE II solar occultation events. The primary goal of the study is to ascertain the capability of the OMPS/LP retrieval algorithm to accurately retrieve the vertical distribution of stratospheric aerosol extinction coefficient so as to better account for aerosol effects in the ozone profiling retrieval process. Using simulated radiances, we show that the aerosol extinction coefficient can be retrieved from limb scatter measurements within 5% and a standard deviation better than 15%, which is more than sufficient to improve the OMPS/LP ozone products to be used as Environmental Data Records. We also illustrate the ability of SCIAMACHY limb measurements to retrieve stratospheric aerosol extinction profiles with accuracy comparable to other instruments. The retrieved aerosol extinction profiles agree with collocated SAGE II measurements on average to within 25%, with a standard deviation of 35%.