Validation of Solar Occultation for Ice Experiment (SOFIE) nitric oxide measurements

• Published in: Atmospheric measurement techniques Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 3111 - 3121
• Main Authors: Hervig, Mark E, Marshall, Benjamin T, Bailey, Scott M, Siskind, David E, Russell III, James M, Bardeen, Charles G, Walker, Kaley A, Funke, Bernd
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Katlenburg-Lindau Copernicus GmbH 13-06-2019; Copernicus Publications
• Subjects: Atmospheric chemistry; Atmospheric sounding; Experiments; Fourier transform spectrometers; Fourier transforms; Instruments (Equipment); Interferometers; Measurement; Methods; Nitric oxide; Nitrogen oxides; Organic chemistry; Solar occultation; Spacecraft; Sunrise; Sunset; Uncertainty analysis
• ISSN: 1867-8548; 1867-1381; 1867-8548
• DOI: 10.5194/amt-12-3111-2019

Nitric oxide (NO) measurements from the Solar
Occultation for Ice Experiment (SOFIE) are validated through detailed
uncertainty analysis and comparisons with independent observations. SOFIE
was compared with coincident satellite measurements from the Atmospheric
Chemistry Experiment (ACE) – Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS)
instrument and the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric
Sounding (MIPAS) instrument. The comparisons indicate mean differences of
less than ∼50 % for altitudes from roughly 50 to 105 km for
SOFIE spacecraft sunrise and 50 to 140 km for SOFIE sunsets. Comparisons of
NO time series show a high degree of correlation between SOFIE and both ACE
and MIPAS for altitudes below ∼130 km, indicating that
measured NO variability in time is robust. SOFIE uncertainties increase
below ∼80 km due to interfering H2O absorption and
signal correction uncertainties, which are larger for spacecraft sunrise
compared to sunset. These errors are sufficiently large in sunrises that
reliable NO measurements are infrequent below ∼80 km.