Remote Sensing of the Earth 's Atmosphere by the Spaceborne Occultation Radiometer, ORA: Final Inversion Algorithm

D Fussen; F Vanhellemont; C Bingen

doi:10.1364/ao.40.000941

Remote Sensing of the Earth 's Atmosphere by the Spaceborne Occultation Radiometer, ORA: Final Inversion Algorithm

Appl Opt. 2001 Feb 20;40(6):941-8. doi: 10.1364/ao.40.000941.

Authors

D Fussen, F Vanhellemont, C Bingen

PMID: 18357077
DOI: 10.1364/ao.40.000941

Abstract

We describe the final inversion algorithm developed to process solar occultation data measured in 1992-1993 by the Occultation Radiometer (ORA) spaceborne experiment. First we develop a new method to improve the ORA total extinction altitude profiles retrieved with the previously described Natural Orthogonal Polynomial Expansion (NOPE) method. Using these improved profiles, we perform spectral inversion and obtain altitude density profiles for O(3) and NO(2) and extinction profiles for the aerosols. Validation of number density profiles between the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II) and the ORA shows satisfactory agreement.