Analysis and Validation of the Reprocessed NOAA-11 and NOAA-16 SBUV/2 Total and Profile Ozone Data Sets

We have reprocessed the NOAA-11 (1989 - March 2001) and NOAA-16 (October 2000 - present) SBUV/2 total and profile ozone data using improved calibration and an improved algorithm. The SBUV/2 data record from NOAA-11 and -16 continues the Nimbus-7 SBUV data record that began in 1978. The newly developed Version 8 algorithm has latitudinally and seasonally varying ozone and temperature climatology, an improved forward model, corrections for aerosol contamination, an inverse model that uses measurements at ten wavelengths (273 - 331 nm). We determined the accuracy of the reprocessed total and profile ozone by performing external comparisons to ground-based and satellite-based observations. We validated the total ozone data sets by comparing them with ozone estimates from a network of Dobson spectrometers and ozone estimates from TOMS instruments during their overlap with the SBUV/2 instruments on NOAA-11 and NOAA-16. We validated the ozone profile data sets by comparing them with POAM-II retrievals during its overlap with NOAA-11 (1993-1994) and with POAM-III during its overlap with NOAA-11 (May 1998- March 2001) and with NOAA-16 (October 2000 - present). We will present analysis and validation of the newly reprocessed data sets with special emphasis on internal consistency and inter-instrument calibration, and discuss their applicability for ozone trend analysis.