Ground-based zenith sky abundances and in situ gas cross sections for ozone and nitrogen dioxide with the Earth Observing System Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument

High-accuracy spectral-slit-function calibration measurements, in situ ambient absorption gas cell measurements for ozone and nitrogen dioxide, and ground-based zenith sky measurements with the Earth Observing System Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) flight instrument are reported and the results discussed. For use of high-spectral-resolution gas absorption cross sections from the literature in trace gas retrieval algorithms, accurate determination of the instrument's spectral slit function is essential. Ground-based measurements of the zenith sky provide a geophysical determination of atmospheric trace gas abundances. When compared with other measurements, they can be used to verify the performance of the OMI flight instrument. We show that the approach of using published high-resolution absolute absorption cross sections convolved with accurately calibrated spectral slit functions for OMI compares well with in situ gas absorption cell measurements made with the flight instrument and that use of these convolved cross sections works well for reduction of zenith sky data taken with the OMI flight instrument for ozone and nitrogen dioxide that are retrieved from measured spectra of the zenith sky with the differential optical absorption spectroscopy technique, the same method to be used for the generation of in-flight data products. Finally, it is demonstrated that the spectral stability and signal-to-noise ratio performance of the OMI flight instrument, as determined from preflight component and full instrument tests, are sufficient to meet OMI mission objectives.     

Measurements of biologically effective UV doses, total ozone abundances, and cloud effects with multichannel, moderate bandwidth filter instruments

I describe a method to derive biologically effective UV dose rates, total ozone abundances, and cloud optical depths from irradiance measurements with moderate bandwidth filter instruments that have only a few channels in the UV region. These quantities are determined when the measured irradiances are combined with radiative transfer calculations. The method was applied to a four-channel filter instrument with center wavelengths at 305, 320, 340, and 380 nm and bandwidths of 10 nm. I compared the instrument with a high-wavelength-resolution spectroradiometer during a 1-week period in San Diego, California, with variable cloudiness. The relative difference in Commission Internationale de l'éclairage (CIE)-weighted UV dose rates for solar zenith angle's (SZA's) < 80° was 1.4 ± 3.2%. The relative difference for clear sky was 0.6 ± 1.5% for SZA's < 80°. The total ozone inferred from the irradiance measurements with the filter instrument is insensitive to clouds. The instrument was compared with a Dobson and a Brewer instrument in Oslo, Norway, 60°N, for more than 1 year. The relative difference in derived ozone abundance for the entire period, including cloudy days, was 0.3 ± 2.9%. The standard deviation was reduced to 1.9% when only clear sky and SZA's < 60° were included. By using the total ozone and the cloud optical depth derived from the filter instrument as input to a radiative transfer model, one can compute a complete spectrum from 290 to 400 nm with 1-nm resolution. Such calculated spectra are in good agreement with spectra measured simultaneously with a high-wavelength-resolution spectroradiometer for clear as well as cloudy sky conditions and can be used to determine dose rates for any desired action spectrum. Only one UV-B channel and one UV-A channel are required to compute the spectra.     

Estimation of the remote-sensing reflectance from above-surface measurements

The remote-sensing reflectance R(rs) is not directly measurable, and various methodologies have been employed in its estimation. I review the radiative transfer foundations of several commonly used methods for estimating R(rs), and errors associated with estimating R(rs) by removal of surface-reflected sky radiance are evaluated using the Hydrolight radiative transfer numerical model. The dependence of the sea surface reflectance factor rho, which is not an inherent optical property of the surface, on sky conditions, wind speed, solar zenith angle, and viewing geometry is examined. If rho is not estimated accurately, significant errors can occur in the estimated R(rs) for near-zenith Sun positions and for high wind speeds, both of which can give considerable Sun glitter effects. The numerical simulations suggest that a viewing direction of 40 deg from the nadir and 135 deg from the Sun is a reasonable compromise among conflicting requirements. For this viewing direction, a value of rho approximately 0.028 is acceptable only for wind speeds less than 5 m s(-1). For higher wind speeds, curves are presented for the determination of rho as a function of solar zenith angle and wind speed. If the sky is overcast, a value of rho approximately 0.028 is used at all wind speeds.     

Charge-coupled device spectrograph for direct solar irradiance and sky radiance measurements

The characterization of a charged-coupled device (CCD) spectrograph developed at the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Thessaloniki is presented. The absolute sensitivity of the instrument for direct irradiance and sky radiance measurements was determined, respectively, with an uncertainty of 4.4% and 6.6% in the UV-B, and 3% and 6% in the UV-A, visible and near-infrared (NIR) wavelength ranges. The overall uncertainty associated with the direct irradiance and the sky radiance measurements is, respectively, of the order of 5% and 7% in the UV-B, increasing to 10% for low signals [e.g., at solar zenith angles (SZAs) larger than 70 degrees ], and 4% and 6% in the UV-A, visible, and NIR. Direct solar spectral irradiance measurements from an independently calibrated spectroradiometer (Bentham DTM 300) were compared with the corresponding CCD measurements. Their agreement in the wavelength range of 310-500nm is within 0.5% +/- 1.1% (for SZA between 20 degrees and 70 degrees ). Aerosol optical depth (AOD) derived by the two instruments using direct Sun spectra and by a collocated Cimel sunphotometer [Aerosol Robotic network (AERONET)] agree to within 0.02 +/- 0.02 in the range of 315-870 nm. Significant correlation coefficients with a maximum of 0.99 in the range of 340-360 nm and a minimum of 0.90 at 870 nm were found between synchronous AOD measurements with the Bentham and the Cimel instruments.     

Reconstruction of refractive indices from spectral measurements of monodisperse aerosols

For the investigation of two-component aerosols, one needs to know the refractive indices of the two aerosol components. One problem is that they depend on temperature and pressure, so one needs for their determination a robust measurement instrument such as the FASP device, which can cope with rigid environmental conditions. In this article, we show that the FASP device is capable of measuring the needed refractive indices, if monodisperse aerosols of the pure components are provided. We determine the particle radii of the monodisperse aerosols needed for this task and investigate how accurate the measurements have to be in order to retrieve refractive indices in a sufficient quality, such that they are suitable for investigations of two-component aerosols.     

Comparison between measurements and modeling of UV-B irradiance for clear sky: a case study

We compare the TJV-B global and direct irradiances computed with a radiative transfer model (discrete ordinate method) and measured during a European intercomparison campaign in Greece in July 1991, with clear sky. The agreement between the model and the measurements is within 6%. The sensitivity of the model to the accuracy of the input parameters as well as the potential of modeling for instrument calibration is discussed.     

Ozone column density determination from direct irradiance measurements in the ultraviolet performed by a four-channel precision filter radiometer

Ultraviolet light was measured at four channels (305, 311, 318, and 332 nm) with a precision filter radiometer (UV-PFR) at Arosa, Switzerland (46.78 degrees , 9.68 degrees , 1850 m above sea level), within the instrument trial phase of a cooperative venture of the Swiss Meteorological Institute (MeteoSwiss) and the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center. We retrieved ozone-column density data from these direct relative irradiance measurements by adapting the Dobson standard method for all possible single-difference wavelength pairs and one double-difference pair (305/311 and 305/318) under conditions of cloud-free sky and of thin clouds (cloud optical depth <2.5 at 500 nm). All UV-PFR retrievals exhibited excellent agreement with those of collocated Dobson and Brewer spectrophotometers for data obtained during two months in 1999. Combining the results of the error analysis and the findings of the validation, we propose to retrieve ozone-column density by using the 305/311 single difference pair and the double-difference pair. Furthermore, combining both retrievals by building the ratio of ozone-column density yields information that is relevant to data quality control. Estimates of the 305/311 pair agree with measurements by the Dobson and Brewer instruments within 1% for both the mean and the standard deviation of the differences. For the double pair these values are in a range up to 1.6%. However, this pair is less sensitive to model errors. The retrieval performance is also consistent with satellite-based data from the Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (EP-TOMS) and the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment instrument (GOME).     

Effect of atmospheric radiance errors in radiometric sea-surface skin temperature measurements

Errors in measurements of sea-surface skin temperature (SSST) caused by inappropriate measurements of sky radiance are discussed; both model simulations and in situ data obtained in the Atlantic Ocean are used. These errors are typically caused by incorrect radiometer view geometry (pointing), temporal mismatches between the sea surface and atmospheric views, and the effect of wind on the sea surface. For clear-sky, overcast, or high-humidity atmospheric conditions, SSST is relatively insensitive (<0.1 K) to sky-pointing errors of ?10 degrees and to temporal mismatches between the sea and sky views. In mixed-cloud conditions, SSST errors greater than ?0.25 K are possible as a result either of poor radiometer pointing or of a temporal mismatch between the sea and sky views. Sea-surface emissivity also changes with sea view pointing angle. Sea view pointing errors should remain below 5 degrees for SSST errors of <0.1 K. We conclude that the clear-sky requirement of satellite infrared SSST observations means that sky-pointing errors are small when one is obtaining in situ SSST validation data at zenith angles of <40 degrees . At zenith angles greater than this, large errors are possible in high-wind-speed conditions. We recommend that high-resolution inclinometer measurements always be used, together with regular alternating sea and sky views, and that the temporal mismatch between sea and sky views be as small as possible. These results have important implications for the development of operational autonomous instruments for determining SSST for the long-term validation of satellite SSST.     

Sky-scanning radiometer for absolute measurements of atmospheric long-wave radiation

Atmospheric long-wave radiation is one of the most promising parameters for observations of climate change that are greenhouse effect related. Long-wave irradiance is usually measured with pyrgeometers that consist of a flat thermopile and a hemispherical dome acting as a filter and protecting the absorbing receiver surface. Pyrgeometers are blackbody calibrated, but uncertainties, mainly related to the silicon hemisphere, arise from thermal effects, inadequate spectral transmission, and cosine-response errors. The new absolute sky-scanning radiometer (ASR) allows absolute measurements of atmospheric long-wave radiation and is suggested as a future reference standard for pyrgeometer field calibration. The calibration of the ASR is based on a reference blackbody source traced to absolute temperature standards. The pyroelectric detector has no window to prevent thermal and spectral transmission effects. Scanning the sky with a narrow viewing angle and integrating with the Gaussian quadrature, rather than taking hemispherical measurements, prevent errors related to the cosine effect.     

Polychromatic transmissometer for in situ measurements of suspended particles and gelbstoff in water

The beam attenuation coefficient is an optical parameter that sensitively depends on suspended and dissolved substances in water. Its measurement is not only of interest for an understanding of the radiative transfer in a water column. With appropriate algorithms for data interpretation, it also allows a fast determination of absorbing and scattering matter as time-series measurements or depth profiles that cannot easily be obtained with other methods. An instrument has been developed for measuring spectral attenuation coefficients over a wavelength range from 340 to 785 nm. The optical path length can be set between 0 and 400 mm. This allows application in a wide range of turbidity in coastal and inland (case 2 and case 3) waters and a calibration of the instrument during in-situ measurements. This makes the instrument suitable for long-term applications in which signals from conventional instruments would degrade owing to the biofouling of optical windows. From the data, the amount and the size distribution of suspended particles and the specific absorption of dissolved organic matter are derived in real time. Algorithms based on Monte Carlo methods are available for a classification of transparent particles and phytoplankton.     

Retrieval of atmospheric-temperature and water-vapor profiles by use of combined satellite and ground-based infrared spectral-radiance measurements

A nonlinear sounding retrieval algorithm is used to produce vertical-temperature and water-vapor profiles from coincident observations taken by the airborne High-resolution Interferometer Sounder (HIS) and the ground-based Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) during the SUbsonic Contrails and Clouds Effects Special Study (SUCCESS). Also, clear sky Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and AERI radiance measurements, achieved on a daily real-time basis at the Department of Energy's Oklahoma CART (Cloud and Radiation Testbed) site, are used to demonstrate the current profiling capability by use of simultaneous geostationary satellite and ground-based remote sensing observations under clear-sky conditions. The discrepancy principle, a method to find the proper smoothing parameters from the minimum value between the normalized spectral residual norm and the a priori upper bound, is used to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of on-line simultaneous tuning of the multiple weighting and smoothing parameters from the combined satellite/airborne and ground-based measurements for the temperature and water-vapor retrieval in this nonlinear-retrieval process. An objective method to determine the degrees of freedom (d.f.) of the observation signal is derived. The d.f. of the radiance signal for the combined GOES and AERI measurements is larger than that for either instrument alone; while the d.f. of the observation signal for the combined GOES and AERI measurements is larger than that for either instrument alone and of the combined GOES and AERI measurements. The use of simultaneous clear-sky AERI and GOES data now provides improved vertical temperature and moisture soundings on an hourly basis for use in the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program [J. Appl. Meteorol. 37, 875 (1998)].     

Calibration and data elaboration procedure for sky irradiance measurements

The problems encountered in the elaboration of measurements of direct and sky diffuse solar irradiance are the following: (1) to carry out the calibration for the direct irradiance, which consists in determining the direct irradiance at the upper limit of the atmosphere; (2) to carry out the calibration for the diffuse irradiance, which consists in determining the solid viewing angle of the sky radiometer; (3) to determine the input parameters, namely, ground albedo, real and imaginary parts of the aerosol refractive index, and aerosol radius range; and (4) to determine from the optical data the columnar aerosol optical depth and volume radius distribution. With experimental data and numerical simulations a procedure is shown that enables one to carry out the two calibrations needed for the sky radiometer, to determine a best estimate of the input parameters, and, finally, to obtain the average features of the atmospheric aerosols. An interesting finding is that inversion of only data of diffuse irradiance yields the same accuracy of result as data of both diffuse and direct irradiance; in this case, only calibration of the solid viewing angle of the sky radiometer is needed, thus shortening the elaboration procedure. Measurements were carried out in the Western Mediterranean Sea (Italy), in Tokyo (Japan), and in Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina); data were elaborated with a new software package, the Skyrad code, based on an efficient radiative transfer scheme.     

Object reconstruction from adaptive compressive measurements in feature-specific imaging

Static feature-specific imaging (SFSI), where the measurement basis remains fixed/static during the data measurement process, has been shown to be superior to conventional imaging for reconstruction tasks. Here, we describe an adaptive approach that utilizes past measurements to inform the choice of measurement basis for future measurements in an FSI system, with the goal of maximizing the reconstruction fidelity while employing the fewest measurements. An algorithm to implement this adaptive approach is developed for FSI systems, and the resulting systems are referred to as adaptive FSI (AFSI) systems. A simulation study is used to analyze the performance of the AFSI system for two choices of measurement basis: principal component (PC) and Hadamard. Here, the root mean squared error (RMSE) metric is employed to quantify the reconstruction fidelity. We observe that an AFSI system achieves as much as 30% lower RMSE compared to an SFSI system. The performance improvement of the AFSI systems is verified using an experimental setup employed using a digital micromirror device (DMD) array.     

Development of an all-sky-scanning spectroradiometer with a visible diode array and a near-infrared acousto-optic tunable filter

A sky scanner was developed that collects spectral radiance data over the wavelength range 390-1732 nm by use of two radiometers, the first being a monochromator with a 512-element silicon diode array and the second being a near-infrared acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) coupled to an InGaAs detector. The scanner is capable of completing a set of spectral radiance measurements at 146 points in the sky hemisphere in a period of less than 4 min.     

Use of sky brightness measurements from ground for remote sensing of particulate polydispersions

The software code SKYEAD.pack for retrieval of aerosol size distribution and optical thickness from data of direct and diffuse solar radiation is described; measurements are carried out with sky radiometers in the wavelength range 0.369-1.048 μm. The treatment of the radiative transfer problem concerning the optical quantities is mainly based on the IMS (improved multiple and single scattering) method, which uses the delta-M approximation for the truncation of the aerosol phase function and corrects the solution for the first- and second-order scattering. Both linear and nonlinear inversion methods can be used for retrieving the size distribution. Improved calibration methods for both direct and diffuse radiation, the data-analysis procedure, the results from the proposed code, and several connected problems are discussed. The results can be summarized as follows: (a) the SKYRAD.pack code can retrieve the columnar aerosol features with accuracy and efficiency in several environmental situations, provided the input parameters are correctly given; (b) when data of both direct and diffuse solar radiation are used, the detectable radius interval for aerosol particles is approximately from 0.03 to 10 μm; (c) besides the retrieval of the aerosol features, the data-analysis procedure also permits the determination of average values for three input parameters (real and imaginary aerosol refractive index, ground albedo) from the optical data; (d) absolute calibrations for the sky radiometer are not needed, and calibrations for direct and diffuse radiation can be carried out with field data; (e) the nonlinear inversion gives satisfactory results in a larger radius interval, without the unrealistic humps that occur with the linear inversion, but the results strongly depend on the first-guess spectrum; (f) aerosol features retrieved from simulated data showed a better agreement with the given data for the linear inversion than for the nonlinear inversion.     

Realization of a radiometric head for measurements of ultraviolet total erythemal effective irradiance

An innovative sensor with a spectral response equivalent to the erythemal action curve for ultraviolet total effective irradiance measurements is presented. Optical and sensor components have been selected after the characterization of different samples. The design is based on an innovative interferential filter, which has been realized and tested. A first prototype has been assembled and characterized. Our measurements demonstrate the feasibility and potential of this instrument.     

Direct-detection Doppler wind measurements with a Cabannes-Mie lidar: b. Impact of aerosol variation on iodine vapor filter methods

Atmospheric line-of-sight (LOS) wind measurement by means of incoherent Cabannes- Mie lidar with three frequency analyzers, two double-edge Fabry-Perot interferometers, one at 1064 nm (IR-FPI) and another at 355 nm (UV-FPI), as well as an iodine vapor filter (IVF) at 532 nm, utilizing either a single absorption edge, single edge (se-IVF), or both absorption edges, double edge (de-IVF), was considered in a companion paper [Appl. Opt. 46, 4434 (2007)], assuming known atmospheric temperature and aerosol mixing ratio, Rb. The effects of temperature and aerosol variations on the uncertainty of LOS wind measurements are investigated and it is found that while the effect of temperature variation is small, the variation in R(b) can cause significant errors in wind measurements with IVF systems. Thus the means to incorporate a credible determination of R(b) into the wind measurement are presented as well as an assessment of the impact on wind measurement uncertainty. Unlike with IVF methods, researchers can take advantage of design flexibility with FPI methods to desensitize either molecular scattering for IR-FPI or aerosol scattering for UV-FPI. The additional wind measurement uncertainty caused by R(b) variation with FPI methods is thus negligible for these configurations. Assuming 100,000 photons from Cabannes scattering, and accounting for the Rb measurement incorporated into the IVF method in this paper, it is found that the lowest wind uncertainty at low wind speeds in aerosol-free air is still with UV-FPI, ~32% lower than with de-IVF. For 0.050.07, the IR-FPI outperforms all other methods. In addition to LOS wind uncertainty comparison under high wind speed conditions, the need of an appropriate and readily available narrowband filter for operating the wind lidar at visible wavelengths under sunlit condition is discussed; with such a filter the degradation of LOS wind measurement attributable to clear sky background is estimated to be 5% or less for practical lidar systems.     

Filter characterisation using one-port pulsed radio-frequency measurements

A method for extracting the loaded quality factor of the first resonator of a bandpass filter using oneport measurements is introduced. Properties of the quality factor are reviewed, and a time-domain approximation is used to estimate the loaded Q value from the decay rate of the filter?s natural response. Narrowband 900 MHz Chebyshev filters are characterised.     

Transient hot-wire measurements of the thermal conductivity of gases at elevated temperatures

The paper describes a new instrument for the measurement of the thermal conductivity of gases over a wide range of thermodynamic states. The instrument operates on the transient hot-wire principle and the design of the cells that is necessary to secure an accuracy of ±0.3% in the thermal conductivity is considered in some detail. A selection of the results on ten pure gases is presented. The data for the monatomic gases in the limit of zero density are employed to confirm the accuracy of the measurements, whereas the results at higher densities for these and other gases are used to examine the concept of a temperature-independent excess thermal conductivity.Paper presented at the Ninth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 24–27, 1985, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

Characterisation of spectrophotometers used for spectral solar ultraviolet radiation measurements

Spectrophotometers used for spectral measurements of the solar ultraviolet radiation need to be well characterised to provide accurate and reliable data. Since the characterisation and calibration are usually performed in the laboratory under conditions very different from those encountered during solar measurements, it is essential to address all issues concerned with the representativity of the laboratory characterisation with respect to the solar measurements. These include among others the instrument stability, the instrument linearity, the instrument responsivity, the wavelength accuracy, the spectral resolution, stray light rejection and the instrument dependence on ambient temperature fluctuations. These instrument parameters need to be determined often enough so that the instrument changes only marginally in the period between successive characterisations and therefore provides reliable data for the intervening period.