MIPAS ozone retrieval version 8: middle-atmosphere measurements

Abstract. We present a new version of O3 data retrieved from the three Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) observation modes that we refer to for simplicity as the modes of the middle atmosphere (middle atmosphere, MA; upper atmosphere, UA; and noctilucent cloud, NLC). The O3 profiles cover altitudes from 20 up to 100 km for the daytime and up to 105 km at nighttime, for all latitudes, and the period 2005 until 2012. The data have been obtained with the IMK–IAA (Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research and Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía) MIPAS level-2 data processor and are based on ESA version-8 re-calibrated radiance spectra with improved temporal stability. The processing included several improvements with respect to the previous version, such as the consistency of the microwindows and spectroscopic data with those used in the nominal-mode V8R data, the O3 a priori profiles, and updates of the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) parameters and the nighttime atomic oxygen. In particular, the collisional relaxation of O3(v1,v3) by the atomic oxygen was reduced by a factor of 2 in order to obtain a better agreement of nighttime mesospheric O3 with “non-LTE-free” measurements. Random errors are dominated by the measurement noise with 1σ values for single profiles for the daytime of < 5 % below ∼ 60 km, 5 %–10 % between 60 and 70 km, 10 %–20 % at 70–90 km, and about 30 % at 95 km. For nighttime, they are very similar below 70 km but smaller above (10 %–20 % at 75–95 km, 20 %–30 % at 95–100 km and larger than 30 % above 100 km). The systematic error is ∼ 6 % below ∼ 60 km (dominated by uncertainties in spectroscopic data) and 8 %–12 % above ∼ 60 km, mainly caused by non-LTE uncertainties. The systematic errors in the 80–100 km range are significantly smaller than in the previous version. The major differences with respect to the previous version are as follows: (1) the new retrievals provide O3 abundances in the 20–50 km altitude range that are larger by about 2 %–5 % (0.2–0.5 ppmv); (2) O3 abundances were reduced by ∼ 2 %–4 % between 50 and 60 km in the tropics and mid-latitudes; (3) O3 abundances in the nighttime O3 minimum just below 80 km were reduced, leading to a more realistic diurnal variation; (4) daytime O3 concentrations in the secondary maximum at the tropical and middle latitudes (∼ 40 %, 0.2–0.3 ppmv) were larger; and (5) nighttime O3 abundances in the secondary maximum were reduced by 10 %–30 %. The O3 profiles retrieved from the nominal mode (NOM) and the middle-atmosphere modes are fully consistent in their common altitude range (20–70 km). Only at 60–70 km does daytime O3 of NOM seem to be larger than that of MA/UA by 2 %–10 %. Compared to other satellite instruments, MIPAS seems to have a positive bias of 5 %–8 % below 70 km. Noticeably, the new version of MIPAS data agrees much better than before with all instruments in the upper mesosphere–lower thermosphere, reducing the differences from ∼± 20 % to ∼± 10 %. Further, the diurnal variation in O3 in the upper mesosphere (near 80 km) has been significantly improved.