Validation of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide measurements made by the Halogen Occultation Experiment for UARS platform

Abstract

The Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) experiment on Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) performs solar occultation (sunrise and sunset) measurements to infer the composition and structure of the stratosphere and mesosphere. Two of the HALOE channels, centered at 5.26 μm and 6.25 μm, are designed to infer concentrations of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide respectively. The NO measurements extend from the lower stratosphere up to 130 km, while the NO 2 results typically range from the lower stratosphere to 50 km and higher near the winter terminator. Comparison with results from various instruments are presented, including satellite‐, balloon‐, and ground‐based measurements. Both NO and NO 2 can show large percentage errors in the presence of heavy aerosol concentrations, confined to below 25 km and before 1993. The NO 2 measurements show mean differences with correlative measurements of about 10 to 15% over the middle stratosphere. The NO 2 precision is about 7.5 × 10 −13 atm, degrading to 2 × 10 −12 atm in the lower stratosphere. The NO differences are similar in the middle stratosphere but sometimes show a low bias (as much as 35%) between 30 and 60 km with some correlative measurements. NO precision when expressed in units of density is nearly constant at 1 × 10 −12 atmospheres, or approximately 0.1 ppbv at 10.0 mb or 1.0 ppbv at 1.0 mb, and so forth when expressed in mixing ratio. Above 65 km, agreement in the mean with Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) NO results is very good, typically ±15%. Model comparisons are also presented, showing good agreement with both expected morphology and diurnal behavior for both NO 2 and NO.