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The Earth Observing System Microwave Limb Sounder (EOS MLS) on the Aura Satellite Joe W

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The Earth Observing System Microwave Limb Sounder (EOS MLS) on the Aura Satellite Joe W IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 44, NO. 5, MAY 2006 1075 The Earth Observing System Microwave Limb Sounder (EOS MLS) on the Aura Satellite Joe W. Waters, Lucien Froidevaux, Robert S. Harwood, Robert F. Jarnot, Herbert M. Pickett, William G. Read, Peter H. Siegel, Richard E. Cofield, Mark J. Filipiak, Dennis A. Flower, James R. Holden, Gary K. Lau, Nathaniel J. Livesey, Gloria L. Manney, Hugh C. Pumphrey, Michelle L. Santee, Dong L. Wu, David T. Cuddy, Richard R. Lay, Mario S. Loo, Vincent S. Perun, Michael J. Schwartz, Paul C. Stek, Robert P. Thurstans, Mark A. Boyles, Kumar M. Chandra, Marco C. Chavez, Gun-Shing Chen, Bharat V. Chudasama, Randy Dodge, Ryan A. Fuller, Michael A. Girard, Jonathan H. Jiang, Yibo Jiang, Brian W. Knosp, Remi C. LaBelle, Jonathan C. Lam, Karen A. Lee, Dominick Miller, John E. Oswald, Navnit C. Patel, David M. Pukala, Ofelia Quintero, David M. Scaff, W. Van Snyder, Michael C. Tope, Paul A. Wagner, and Marc J. Walch Abstract—The Earth Observing System Microwave Limb and mesosphere. It is an advanced follow-on to the first MLS Sounder measures several atmospheric chemical species (OH, [2], [3] on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) HOP,HPO, OQ, HCl, ClO, HOCl, BrO, HNOQ,NPO, CO, HCN, launched September 12, 1991. The major objective of UARS CHQCN, volcanic SOP), cloud ice, temperature, and geopotential height to improve our understanding of stratospheric ozone chem- MLS was, in response to the industrial chlorofluorocarbon istry, the interaction of composition and climate, and pollution in threat to the ozone layer [4], to provide global information the upper troposphere. All measurements are made simultane- on chlorine monoxide (ClO)—the dominant form of chlorine ously and continuously, during both day and night. The instrument that destroys ozone. The UARS MLS design was “frozen” uses heterodyne radiometers that observe thermal emission from before discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole [5], [6], and the the atmospheric limb in broad spectral regions centered near 118, 190, 240, and 640 GHz, and 2.5 THz. It was launched July 15, design was for the middle and upper stratospheric measure- 2004 on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s ments thought most important at the time. It was, however, Aura satellite and started full-up science operations on August 13, able to provide valuable information for assessing the chlorine 2004. An atmospheric limb scan and radiometric calibration for destruction of lower stratospheric ozone in the Antarctic and all bands are performed routinely every 25 s. Vertical profiles are Arctic winters [7], [8]. UARS MLS also provided additional retrieved every 165 km along the suborbital track, covering 82 S to 82 N latitudes on each orbit. Instrument performance to date measurements beyond stratospheric ClO, O , and H O for has been excellent; data have been made publicly available; and which it was designed, most notable of which are upper tropo- initial science results have been obtained. spheric H O vapor [9]–[11] and cloud ice [12], stratospheric Index Terms—Microwave, remote sensing, stratosphere, submil- HNO [13], [14], and temperature variances associated with limeter wave. atmospheric gravity waves [15], [16]. A summary of scientific highlights from UARS MLS through 1999 is in [3]. The MLS web site (http://mls.jpl.nasa.gov) contains an updated list of I. INTRODUCTION MLS-related scientific publications. HE Earth Observing System (EOS) Microwave Limb EOS MLS is greatly improved over UARS MLS in having: T Sounder (MLS), onboard the National Aeronautics and 1) many more stratospheric measurements for chemical com- Space Administration (NASA) Aura satellite launched July position and dynamical tracers; 2) more and better upper 15, 2004, uses the microwave limb sounding technique [1] to tropospheric measurements; and 3) better global and temporal provide information on Earth’s upper troposphere, stratosphere, coverage and resolution These improvements were possible because of: 1) advances in technology that have extended Manuscript received May 1, 2005; revised October 6, 2005. The work at the the spectral range and bandwidth of microwave heterodyne Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, was done under radiometer systems that can be operated on a satellite; 2) design contract with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Work at The University of Edinburgh was done with support from the U.K. Natural of EOS MLS for upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric Environment Research Council. measurements; and 3) the Aura polar orbit that allows nearly J. W. Waters, L. Froidevaux, R. F. Jarnot, H. M. Pickett, W. G. Read, P. H. pole-to-pole coverage on each orbit and measurements made Siegel, R. E. Cofield, D. A. Flower, J. R. Holden, G. K. Lau, N. J. Livesey, G. L. Manney, M. L. Santee, D. L. Wu, D. T. Cuddy, R. R. Lay, M. S. Loo, V.S. Perun, in the orbit plane that enables more accurate handling of atmo- M. J. Schwartz, P. C. Stek, R. P. Thurstans, M. A. Boyles, K. M. Chandra, M. C. spheric gradients in the line-of-sight (LOS) direction. The EOS Chavez, G.-S. Chen, B. V. Chudasama, R. Dodge, R. A. Fuller, M. A. Girard, J. MLS atmospheric measurement objectives are shown in Fig. 1. H. Jiang, Y. Jiang, B. W. Knosp, R. C. LaBelle, J. C. Lam, K. A. Lee, D. Miller, J. E. Oswald, N. C. Patel, D. M. Pukala, O. Quintero, D. M. Scaff, W. Van An overview of the Aura mission is in [17]. Companion Snyder, M. C. Tope, P. A. Wagner and M. J. Walch are with the Jet Propulsion instruments to MLS on Aura are the Tropospheric Emission Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109 USA (e-mail: [email protected]). Spectrometer (TES) [18], the Ozone Monitoring Instrument R. S. Harwood, M. J. Filipiak, and H. C. Pumphrey are with the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, U.K. (OMI) [19], and the High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TGRS.2006.873771 (HIRDLS) [17]. 0196-2892/$20.00 © 2006 IEEE 1076 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 44, NO. 5, MAY 2006 Fig. 1. EOS MLS scientific measurement objectives. Solid lines indicate generally useful precision for individual profiles. Dotted lines indicate that zonal (or other) averages are generally needed to obtain useful precision. Solid lines for lower stratospheric and upper tropospheric HCN and CH CN apply to enhanced abundances expected from biomass burning injections. The height ranges shown here indicate what is ultimately expected to be achieved, and not necessarily achieved with initial data processing. Different colors indicate different chemical families. II. MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE Microwave limb sounding remotely measures atmospheric parameters by observing millimeter- and submillimeter-wave- length thermal emission as the instrument field of view (FOV) is scanned through the atmospheric limb from above. Features of the technique, described further in [1], include the following. 1) ability to measure many atmospheric gases, with emission from molecular oxygen (and other molecules) providing temperature and pressure; 2) reliable measurements, even in the presence of aerosol, cirrus, or polar stratospheric clouds that can degrade or prevent shorter-wavelength ultraviolet, visible, and infrared measurements (Fig. 3 of [3] shows the small Fig. 2. Linewidth versus height for some spectral lines measured by EOS effect of dense volcanic aerosol on MLS measurements); MLS. 3) ability to measure cloud ice and obtain information on ice particle size for dense ice clouds that saturate or block linewidth variation with height for representative spectral lines shorter-wavelength techniques; measured by EOS MLS. 4) ability to make measurements at all times of day and night, The instrumentation used for MLS measurements has stable and thus provide global coverage on a daily basis; and accurate calibration. Fig. 3 shows data indicating the 5) ability to spectrally resolve emission lines at all altitudes, long-term stability of the UARS MLS antenna system reflec- which allows measurements of very weak lines in the tivity. “Space radiances,” the radiances measured through the presence of nearby strong ones. antenna system when it is pointed well above the atmosphere The widths of atmospheric spectral lines in the millimeter and calibrated in the same manner as the atmospheric radiances and submillimeter-wavelength spectral regions used by MLS [20], are plotted, after subtraction of an initial radiance offset of are dominated by pressure (collisional) broadening throughout a few kelvins. The absolute mirror reflectivities in all spectral the troposphere and stratosphere, resulting in the linewidth bands were inferred from reflectivity measurements using a being a nearly exponentially decreasing function of height up to silver plate standard; the inferred reflectivity for the primary 50–70 km. Doppler broadening, which is proportional to the mirror was 0.9956 0.0008 for bands covering 202–204 GHz line frequency and only weakly dependent on height (through (and the image sideband at 200–201 GHz) [20] (inferred reflec- temperature), dominates at higher altitudes. Fig. 2 shows tivity values for the EOS MLS primary mirror vary from 0.9977 WATERS et al.: EOS MSL ON THE AURA SATELLITE 1077 stratospheric cooling that can exacerbate some ozone chemical destruction processes, and possibly through changes in trans- port across the tropical tropopause that could alter the amount of H O (and perhaps other substances) in the stratosphere, affecting ozone chemistry and recovery. EOS MLS produces an extensive dataset for tracking stratospheric ozone chemistry. It provides the first global mea- surements of OH and HO , the chemically reactive species in hydrogen chemistry that dominates ozone destruction at 20–25 km outside winter polar regions, and at heights above 45 km. Our present understanding of hydrogen chemistry in the upper stratosphere is in question due to some observations of OH that are in disagreement with current theory [29].
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