A42E-02
Estimating Uncertainties in the Multi-Instrument SBUV Profile Ozone Merged Data Set
Thursday, 17 December 2015: 10:35
3012 (Moscone West)
Stacey M Frith, Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, United States, Richard S Stolarski, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States and Richard D McPeters, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
Abstract:
The Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV) instrument infers the ozone profile from satellite-based measurements of backscattered UV radiation. A series of SBUV-type instruments flown on NASA and NOAA satellite platforms, beginning with the launch of Nimbus 4 in 1970, provides continuous (since October 1978) near-global coverage of stratospheric ozone levels. The NOAA 19 SBUV/2 and the next generation OMPS Nadir Profiler instruments are currently operational, continuing the record into the future. Profile ozone measurements from eight SBUV-type instruments have been combined to produce a single time series spanning over 40 years. Though the design of each instrument is similar, differences in satellite orbit, calibration, and operational quality lead to offsets and drifts between the data sets that must be accounted for when estimating the overall uncertainty in the merged data record. We use a Monte Carlo modeling approach to estimate the potential for uncertainties in the calibration and drift of individual instruments to mimic long-term variations in the merged data set. We focus on long-term linear trend, solar cycle, and chlorine-induced changes. We use intra-instrument comparisons as well as comparisons with independent data sources to quantify the uncertainty of each instrument in the Monte Carlo simulations. We will show results from a time-series analysis of the SBUV profile MOD data set and discuss the implications of the derived instrumental uncertainties on the resulting uncertainty in trends, solar cycle, and chlorine sensitivity.
