Thermospheric Remote Sensing by Occultation: Comparison of SUSIM and SOLSTICE O2 Measurements.

Details Thermospheric Remote Sensing by Occultation: Comparison of SUSIM and SOLSTICE O2 Measurements. Thermospheric Remote Sensing by Occultation: Comparison of SUSIM and SOLSTICE O2 Measurements.

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufmsa13b0275l&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #SA13B-0275

Physics

0300 Atmospheric Composition And Structure, 0355 Thermosphere: Composition And Chemistry, 0394 Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

We compare two data sets of thermospheric molecular oxygen (O2) density profiles derived from solar and stellar occultations. The solar occultation measurements were made by the Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM) instrument onboard the UARS satellite and the stellar occultations are obtained from the SOLar STellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE) on the SORCE satellite. Both instruments are nominally solar experiments to measure the magnitude and variability of the UV solar irradiance. However, they also have the capability to remotely sense the Earth's upper atmosphere by observing the extinction of sunlight or starlight during occultation. Extinction measurements made at discreet wavelengths in the O2 Schumann Runge continuum are used to retrieve O2 density profiles in the thermosphere between approximately 120 and 250 km. SUSIM made solar occultation measurements up to one day per week from October 1991 through February 2005, measuring full-disk solar extinction as a function of tangent altitude at three wavelengths (144, 161 and 171 nm). Over 1500 occultation profiles have been analyzed, spanning a wide range of solar and geomagnetic activity. Two identical SOLSTICE instruments have been operating onboard the SORCE satellite since January 2003. In the first year of operation approximately 100 occultation events were obtained but since May 2004 these measurements have been made on a routine basis, approximately 10 times per week. The SOLSTICE O2 occultations are measured at 141 and 170 nm, and currently over 900 events have been analyzed. Both data sets cover a wide range of latitudes in each hemisphere - up to 67.5 degrees for SOLSTICE and 75 degrees for SUSIM. Retrieval of O2 density profiles from the SUSIM and SOLSTICE transmission measurements is achieved using an optimal estimation inversion algorithm. We present the retrievals obtained from these two data sets, and use them to study trends in the variation of O2 density as a function of latitude, season, local time, and solar and geomagnetic activity. The results of this parametric analysis will be compared to the predictions of the MSIS-90 and NRLMSIS-00 thermospheric models. In addition, we directly compare retrievals from the two instruments in a limited number of cases where measurements occur in close spatial and temporal proximity.

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