Continuous Observations of Vertical Profile of H218O with a Ground-based Millimeter-wave Radiometer in Chile
Abstract
Stratospheric water vapor affects ozone chemistry in the stratosphere and mesosphere such as possible delay in the expected recovery of the ozone layer Therefore it is important to reveal the current status of the distribution of the stratospheric water vapor and to understand the mechanism of its variation For these purposes we started a project to observe the stratospheric water vapor and its isotopes continuously by using a ground-based millimeter-wave radiometer installed at Las Campanas Observatory Chile 29 0S 70 7W in 1999 We had measured H218O spectra at 203 407 GHz between September and December in 2003 and obtained 460 spectral data averaged over 6 hours Vertical profiles of H218O in the stratosphere and mesosphere were retrieved by using the optimal estimation method For retrieval temperature and pressure profiles were taken from NCEP Reanalysis Data and a priori profiles of H218O were used from MIPAS Reference Atmospheres 2001 We will report details of the observations and retrieval results and discuss temporal variation of H218O in the stratosphere and mesosphere as well as intercomparison result with the Odin SMR data
- Publication:
-
36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006cosp...36.2919S