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First observations of iodine oxide from space
Author(s) -
SaizLopez Alfonso,
Chance Kelly,
Liu Xiong,
Kurosu Thomas P.,
Sander Stanley P.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2007gl030111
Subject(s) - sciamachy , radiance , southern hemisphere , satellite , imaging spectrometer , atmospheric sciences , remote sensing , environmental science , geology , spectrometer , climatology , oceanography , physics , troposphere , astronomy , optics
We present retrievals of IO total columns from the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) satellite instrument. We analyze data for October 2005 in the polar regions to demonstrate for the first time the capability to measure IO column abundances from space. During the period of analysis ( i . e . Southern Hemisphere springtime), enhanced IO vertical columns over 3 × 10 13 molecules cm −2 are observed around coastal Antarctica; by contrast during that time in the Artic region IO is consistently below the calculated instrumental detection limit for individual radiance spectra (2–4 × 10 12 molecules cm −2 for slant columns). The levels reported here are in reasonably good agreement with previous ground‐based measurements at coastal Antarctica. These results also demonstrate that IO is widespread over sea‐ice covered areas in the Southern Ocean. The occurrence of elevated IO and its hitherto unrecognized spatial distribution suggest an efficient iodine activation mechanism at a synoptic scale over coastal Antarctica.