Intercomparison of multiplatform stratospheric aerosol and ozone observations

Stratospheric aerosol extinction profiles from the satellite‐borne Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE II, data version 5.93) and Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE, data version 17) instruments are intercompared with the aerosol lidar data at Garmisch‐Partenkirchen, Germany (47.5°N, 11.1°E) during January and April 1993. Both the HALOE 5.26 μm aerosol extinction and aerosol lidar 0.532 μm backscattering profiles are converted to extinction profiles at the SAGE II 0.525 μm wavelength channel using aerosol size distributions measured by ER‐2 in northern midlatitudes. Within the altitude range of 18–22 km, where most of the stratospheric aerosol resides, the differences between the SAGE II and the HALOE extinction coefficients with respect to HALOE are in general within 30%. The SAGE II‐lidar and HALOE‐lidar differences (with respect to lidar) are generally within 50% in 15–25 km altitudes. The HALOE extinction values are systematically larger than the SAGE II and aerosol lidar values above 25 km altitude. Stratospheric ozone mixing ratio profiles measured by the SAGE II and HALOE sensors are also intercompared during the same period. The percent differences between the SAGE II and HALOE ozone mixing ratios with respect to HALOE are within 20% in 20–60 km altitudes, in general, within the separation between the compared profiles.