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Water vapour and ozone in the mesosphere as measured by UARS MLS
Author(s) -
Pumphrey Hugh C.,
Harwood Robert S.
Publication year - 1997
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 - 10.1029/97gl01158
Subject(s) - mesosphere , microwave limb sounder , radiance , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , ozone , stratosphere , mesopause , water vapor , remote sensing , meteorology , geology , physics
Until recently, measurements of water vapour in the upper mesosphere were scarce. Instruments on the UARS platform have made the first global measurements of upper mesospheric H 2 O; the Microwave Limb Sounder is one of these instruments. It has also measured upper mesospheric ozone. So far, various random and systematic errors have prevented accurate retrievals of either species in the upper mesosphere but much can be learned from the raw radiance measurements. In this paper we present these measurements and show how they can provide information on the dynamics of the mesosphere.