Tsai TR, Rose RA, Weidmann D, Wysocki G. Atmospheric vertical profiles of O3, N2O, CH4, CCl2F2, and H2O retrieved from external-cavity quantum-cascade laser heterodyne radiometer measurements.
APPLIED OPTICS 2012;
51:8779-8792. [PMID:
23262617 DOI:
10.1364/ao.51.008779]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2012] [Accepted: 11/02/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Atmospheric vertical profiles of ozone, nitrous oxide, methane, dichlorodifluoromethane, and water are retrieved from data collected with a widely tunable external-cavity quantum-cascade laser heterodyne radiometer (EC-QC-LHR) covering a spectral range between 1120 and 1238 cm(-1). The instrument was operated in solar occultation mode during a two-month measurement campaign at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, UK, in winter 2010/2011, and ultrahigh-resolution (60 MHz or 0.002 cm(-1)) transmission spectra were recorded for multiple narrow spectral windows (~1 cm(-1) width) specific to each molecule. The ultrahigh spectral resolution of the EC-QC-LHR allows retrieving altitudinal profiles from transmission spectra that contain only few (1-3) significant absorption lines of a target molecule. Profiles are validated by comparing with European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts operational atmospheric profiles (ozone and water), with other data in the literature (nitrous oxide, methane, dichlorodifluoromethane), and with retrievals from a lower resolution (600 MHz or 0.02 cm(-1)) Fourier transform spectroscopy data that were also recorded during the measurement campaign.
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