Assessment of Synergy Between Limb and Nadir Measurements for Retrieval of Tropospheric Ozone from Suomi NPP OMPS

Backscatter UV (BUV) nadir satellite measurements contain information about the spatial and vertical distribution of tropospheric ozone. However the signal can be challenging to obtain due to a combination of factors, specifically the large overburden of ozone in the stratosphere and shielding of tropospheric ozone by denser air in the lower atmosphere. We assess a new method to derive tropospheric ozone profiles using a synergy between the Limb Profiler (LP) and Nadir Mapper (NM) sensors of the Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS) on Suomi NPP. The retrieval is evaluated in coarse layers using a version of the V9 ozone algorithm that has been modified to use limb profile data as a priori and can accept additional wavelengths in the retrieval. We use GMI model data to estimate our errors in tropospheric profile with and without these modifications to quantify the improvement. Finally, we consider possible benefits and difficulties of using OMPS LP to derive improved tropospheric ozone profiles from several forthcoming nadir BUV instruments planned for geostationary and low-Earth orbit missions.