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www.atmos-meas-tech-discuss.net/2/857/2009/
doi:10.5194/amtd-2-857-2009
© Author(s) 2009. This work is distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Stratospheric isotopic water profiles from a single submillimeter limb scan by TELIS
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Sorbonnelaan 2, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Abstract. Around 490 GHz relatively strong HDO and H218O emission lines can be found in the submillimeter thermal-emission spectrum of the Earth's atmosphere, along with lines of the principal isotopologue of water vapour. These can be used for remote sensing of the rare/principal isotope ratio in the stratosphere. A sensitivity study has been performed for retrieval simulations of water isotopologues from balloon-borne measurements by the limb sounder TELIS (TErahertz and submillimeter LImb Sounder). The study demonstrates the capability of TELIS to determine, from a single limb scan, the profiles for H218O and HDO between 20 km and 37 km with a retrieval error of ≈3% and a spatial resolution of 1.5 km, as determined by the width of the averaging kernel. In addition HDO can be retrieved in the range of 10–20 km as well, albeit with a strongly deteriorated retrieval error. Expected uncertainties in instrumental parameters have only limited impact on the retrieval results.
Discussion Paper (PDF, 737 KB) Interactive Discussion (Closed, 3 Comments) Final Revised Paper (AMT)
Citation: de Lange, A., Landgraf, J., and Hoogeveen, R.: Stratospheric isotopic water profiles from a single submillimeter limb scan by TELIS, Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., 2, 857-892, doi:10.5194/amtd-2-857-2009, 2009. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
