Articles | Volume 16, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7531-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7531-2016
Research article
 | 
20 Jun 2016
Research article |  | 20 Jun 2016

Results from the validation campaign of the ozone radiometer GROMOS-C at the NDACC station of Réunion island

Susana Fernandez, Rolf Rüfenacht, Niklaus Kämpfer, Thierry Portafaix, Françoise Posny, and Guillaume Payen

Abstract. Ozone performs a key role in the middle atmosphere and its monitoring is thus necessary.

At the Institute of Applied Physics of the University of Bern, Switzerland, we built a new ground-based microwave radiometer, GROMOS-C (GRound based Ozone MOnitoring System for Campaigns). It has a compact design and can be operated remotely with very little maintenance requirements, being therefore suitable for remote deployments. It has been conceived to measure the vertical distribution of ozone in the middle atmosphere, by observing pressure-broadened emission spectra at a frequency of 110.836 GHz. In addition, meridional and zonal wind profiles can be retrieved, based on the Doppler shift of the ozone line measured in the four directions of observation (north, east, south and west).

In June 2014 the radiometer was installed at the Maïdo observatory, on Réunion island (21.2° S, 55.5° E). High-resolution ozone spectra were recorded continuously over 7 months. Vertical profiles of ozone have been retrieved through an optimal estimation inversion process, using the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator ARTS2 as the forward model. The validation is performed against ozone profiles from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Aura satellite, the ozone lidar located at the observatory and with ozone profiles from weekly radiosondes. Zonal and meridional winds retrieved from GROMOS-C data are validated against another wind radiometer located in situ, WIRA. In addition, we compare both ozone and winds with ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) model data. Results show that GROMOS-C provides reliable ozone profiles between 30 and 0.02 hPa. The comparison with lidar profiles shows a very good agreement at all levels. The accordance with the MLS data set is within 5 % for pressure levels between 25 and 0.2 hPa. GROMOS-C's wind profiles are in good agreement with the observations by WIRA and with the model data, differences are below 5 m s−1 for both.

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Short summary
We present a new ground based microwave radiometer for campaigns, GROMOS-C. It measures the vertical distribution of ozone in the middle atmosphere by observing spectra at 110.836 GHz. The paper presents a validation campaign that took place on La Réunion Island. The ozone retrieved profiles are validated against ozone profiles from the Microwave Limb Sounder, the ozone lidar located in the observatory, ozone profiles from weekly radiosondes and with ECMWF model data.
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