Heavy ozone enrichments from ATMOS infrared solar spectra
Abstract
Vertical enrichment profiles of stratospheric 16O16Ol8O and 16O18O16O (hereafter referred to as 668O3 and 686O3 respectively) have been derived from space-based solar occultation spectra recorded at 0.01 cm-1 resolution by the ATMOS (Atmospheric Trace MOlecule Spectroscopy) Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. The observations, made during the Spacelab 3 and ATLAS-1, -2, and -3 shuttle missions, cover polar, mid-latitude and tropical regions between 26 to 2.6 mb inclusive (≈ 25 to 41 km). Average enrichments, weighted by molecular 48O3 density, of (15±6)% were found for 668O3 and (10±7)% for 686O3. Defining the mixing ratio of 50O3 as the sum of those for 668O3 and 686O3, an enrichment of (13±5)% was found for 50O3 (1σ standard deviation). No latitudinal or vertical gradients were found outside this standard deviation. From a series of ground-based measurements by the ATMOS instrument at Table Mountain, California (34.4°N), an average total column 668O3 enrichment of (17±4)% (1σ standard deviation) was determined, with no significant seasonal variation discernable. Possible biases in the spectral intensities that affect the determination of absolute enrichments are discussed.
- Publication:
-
Geophysical Research Letters
- Pub Date:
- August 1996
- DOI:
- 10.1029/96GL01695
- Bibcode:
- 1996GeoRL..23.2377I
- Keywords:
-
- Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Middle atmosphere-composition and chemistry