Premium
A comparison of measurements from ATMOS and instruments aboard the ER‐2 aircraft: Tracers of atmospheric transport
Author(s) -
Chang A. Y.,
Salawitch R. J.,
Michelsen H. A.,
Gunson M. R.,
Abrams M. C.,
Zander R.,
Rinsland C. P.,
Loewenstein M.,
Podolske J. R.,
Proffitt M. H.,
Margitan J. J.,
Fahey D. W.,
Gao R.S.,
Kelly K. K.,
Elkins J. W.,
Webster C. R.,
May R. D.,
Chan K. R.,
Abbas M. M.,
Goldman A.,
Irion F. W.,
Manney G. L.,
Newchurch M. J.,
Stiller G. P.
Publication year - 1996
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 - 10.1029/96gl01677
Subject(s) - stratosphere , mixing ratio , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , atmospheric chemistry , space shuttle , latitude , spectrometer , physics , meteorology , ozone , optics , astronomy
We compare volume mixing ratio profiles of N 2 O, O 3 , NO y , H 2 O, CH 4 , and CO in the mid‐latitude lower stratosphere measured by the ATMOS Fourier transform spectrometer on the ATLAS‐3 Space Shuttle Mission with in situ measurements acquired from the NASA ER‐2 aircraft during Nov 1994. ATMOS and ER‐2 observations of [N 2 O] show good agreement, as do measured correlations of [O 3 ], [NO y ], [H 2 O], and [CH 4 ] with [N 2 O]. Thus a consistent measure of the hydrogen (H 2 O, CH 4 ) content of the lower stratosphere is provided by the two platforms. The similarity of [NO y ] determined by detection of individual species by ATMOS and the total [NO y ] measurement on the ER‐2 provides strong corroboration for the accuracy of both techniques. A 25% discrepancy in lower stratospheric [CO] observed by ATMOS and the ER‐2 remains unexplained. Otherwise, the agreement for measurements of long‐lived tracers demonstrates the ability to combine ATMOS data with in situ observations for quantifying atmospheric transport.