BrO vertical distributions from SCIAMACHY limb measurements: comparison of algorithms and retrieval results

A. Rozanov (1) , S. Kühl (2) , A. Doicu (3) , C. Mclinden (4) , J. Puķīte (2) , H. Bovensmann (1) , J.P. Burrows (1) , T. Deutschmann (5) , M. Dorf (5) , Florence Goutail (6) , K. Grunow (7) , F. Hendrick (8) , M. von Hobe (9) , S. Hrechanyy (9, 3) , Günter Lichtenberg (3) , K. Pfeilsticker (5) , Jean-Pierre Pommereau (6) , M. van Roozendael (8) , F. Stroh (9) , T. Wagner (2, 5)

1 IUP - Institute of Environmental Physics [Bremen]
2 MPIC - Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
3 IMF - DLR Institut für Methodik der Fernerkundung / DLR Remote Sensing Technology Institute
4 Air Quality Research Division [Toronto]
5 Institut für Umweltphysik [Heidelberg]
6 STRATO - LATMOS
7 Institut für Meteorologie [Berlin]
8 BIRA-IASB - Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy / Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique
9 IEK - Institute for Energy and Climate Research

This study presents two scientific and one operational retrieval algorithms used to obtain vertical distributions of bromine monoxide (BrO) from observations of the scattered solar light performed by the SCIAMACHY instrument in limb viewing geometry. The study begins with a discussion of the theoretical basis of all algorithms followed by an investigation of the retrieval sensitivity. Simulations with three different radiative transfer models allow us to analyze influence of the forward model implementation upon the retrieval results. By means of synthetic retrievals we analyze major sources of uncertainties in the resulting BrO profiles such as different BrO cross sections, their temperature dependence, and stratospheric aerosols. Finally, the reliability of SCIAMACHY BrO profile retrievals is demonstrated comparing results from different algorithms to balloon-borne observations.

Domaines: Physique Atmosphérique et Océanique [physics.ao-ph]

A. Rozanov, S. Kühl, A. Doicu, C. Mclinden, J. Puķīte, et al.. BrO vertical distributions from SCIAMACHY limb measurements: comparison of algorithms and retrieval results. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 2011, 4 (7), pp.1319-1359. ⟨10.5194/amt-4-1319-2011⟩. ⟨hal-00537343⟩