A correlated-k model of radiative transfer in the near-infrared windows of Venus

We present a correlated-k-based model for generating synthetic spectra in the near-infrared window regions, from 1.0 to 2.5 μm, emitted from the deep atmosphere of Venus on the nightside. This approach is applicable for use with any near-infrared instrument, ground-based and space-borne, for analysis of the thermal emissions in this spectral range. We also approach this work with the view of using the model, in conjunction with a retrieval algorithm, to retrieve minor species from the Venus Express/VIRTIS instrument. An existing radiative-transfer model was adapted for Venusian conditions to deal with the prevailing high pressures and temperatures and other conditions. A comprehensive four-modal cloud structure model based on Pollack et al. [Near-infrared light from venus’ nightside: a spectroscopic analysis. Icarus 1993;103:1-42], using refractive indices for a 75% H₂SO₄25% H₂O mixture from Palmer and Williams [Optical constants of sulfuric acid; application to the clouds of Venus? Appl Opt 1975;14(1):208-19], was also implemented. We then utilized a Mie scattering algorithm to account for the multiple scattering effect between cloud and haze layers that occur in the Venusian atmosphere. The correlated-k model is shown to produce good agreement with ground-based spectra of Venus in the near infrared, and to match the output from a line-by-line radiative-transfer model to better than 10%.     

Retrieval of the vertical column of an atmospheric constituent from data fusion of remote sensing measurements

Techniques of data fusion are presently being considered with increasing interest for application to atmospheric observations from space because of their capability to optimally exploit the complementary information provided by different instruments operating aboard on-going and future satellite missions. The task of combining measurements of the same target, when carried out at the level of the retrieved state vectors, faces with two major problems: the need to interpolate the products represented on different retrieval grids which determines a loss of information and the presence of a priori information in the products that can determine a bias in the product of the data fusion. The measurement space solution method avoids these problems. Based on this method we present a novel approach to retrieve the vertical column of an atmospheric constituent from data fusion of remote sensing measurements. We apply the method to retrieve the ozone column from the fusion of simulated measurements of the IASI nadir-viewing spectrometer onboard the METOP-A platform and of the MIPAS limb sounder onboard the ENVISAT satellite. The performance of the method is evaluated in terms of retrieval errors and averaging kernels of the products. The results show the evidence of improved retrieval quality when comparing the outcome of data fusion with that of the inversion process applied to spectra from either of the two instruments.     

基于多角度多光谱Stokes参数Q和U测量反演气溶胶偏振相函数

偏振相函数是气溶胶重要的光学参数之一,它对气溶胶复折射指数、粒子尺度和形状都十分敏感。多角度多光谱偏振遥感可以有效获取气溶胶偏振相函数信息。新一代CIMEL太阳-天空偏振辐射计CE318-DP作为高精度地基气溶胶偏振遥感仪器已被引入全球气溶胶自动观测网AERONET(AErosol RObotic NETwork),并作为扩展多波长偏振测量的太阳-天空辐射计观测网SONET(Sun/sky-radiometer Observation NETwork)的主要仪器,已在不同类型气溶胶观测站点积累了多年的偏振数据。但目前偏振反演仅能利用线偏振度或偏振辐亮度。与线偏振度和偏振辐亮度相比,Stokes参数Q和U不仅包含天空光线偏振强度信息还包含偏振方向信息。利用CE318-DP多光谱多角度测量的天空光Stokes参数Q和U反演气溶胶偏振相函数的方法。针对CE318-DP标准主平面偏振观测模式PPP(Polarized Principal Plane)下Stokes参数U对气溶胶特性变化不敏感、信息难以利用的不足,测试了新的平纬圈偏振扫描模式ALMP(ALMucantar Polarization)获取Stokes参数Q和U,并成功应用于偏振相函数的反演。系统分析了340～1 640 nm多光谱通道上典型生物质燃烧型气溶胶和水溶性气溶胶的-P₁₂/P₁₁反演结果并测试了反演方法在晴朗和灰霾不同大气条件下的适用性。无论在主平面还是平纬圈观测几何下,反演结果在可见光和近红外通道上均与真实值具有较好的一致性。进一步讨论了模型中基于气溶胶参数初始值和大气气溶胶参数真实值计算的“大气单次散射/大气散射”的比值近似相等的假设条件在短波通道不能很好地满足是造成紫外波段反演结果偏差较大的原因之一。后续有待进一步提高反演模型在短波通道的适用性,为利用不同光谱通道上-P₁₂/P₁₁的变化特征改进气溶胶微物理参数反演奠定了基础。     

Near-infrared radiative transfer modelling with different CH4 spectroscopic databases to retrieve atmospheric methane total amount

Atmospheric methane content can be retrieved from measurements of solar radiation attenuated by the atmosphere in the near infrared spectral region where the space-borne and ground-based spectrometers carry out regular measurements. It is shown, in the present work, that the different spectroscopic databases can give significantly different results for both forward simulations of the atmospheric transmittance and the inverse problem solution to retrieve the CH₄ total content in the atmosphere using spectra measured by ground-based FTIR spectrometer in the near infrared spectral region. These discrepancies and the problem of the reduction of their influence on the atmospheric radiation transfer calculations are discussed. A comparison of atmospheric ground-based measured and simulated spectra, modelled with different CH₄ databases, is presented.     

The NEMESIS planetary atmosphere radiative transfer and retrieval tool

With the exception of in situ atmospheric probes, the most useful way to study the atmospheres of other planets is to observe their electromagnetic spectra through remote observations, either from ground-based telescopes or from spacecraft. Atmospheric properties most consistent with these observed spectra are then derived with retrieval models. All retrieval models attempt to extract the maximum amount of atmospheric information from finite sets of data, but while the problem to be solved is fundamentally the same for any planetary atmosphere, until now all such models have been assembled ad hoc to address data from individual missions.In this paper, we describe a new general-purpose retrieval model, Non-linear Optimal Estimator for MultivariatE Spectral analySIS (NEMESIS), which was originally developed to interpret observations of Saturn and Titan from the composite infrared spectrometer on board the NASA Cassini spacecraft. NEMESIS has been constructed to be generally applicable to any planetary atmosphere and can be applied from the visible/near-infrared right out to microwave wavelengths, modelling both reflected sunlight and thermal emission in either scattering or non-scattering conditions. NEMESIS has now been successfully applied to the analysis of data from many planetary missions and also ground-based observations.     

Line narrowing effect on the retrieval of HF and HCl vertical profiles from ground-based FTIR measurements

Collision-induced line narrowing, which has been discovered in the 1950s and investigated thoroughly in the laboratory since then, has yet never been taken into account in the spectroscopic remote sensing of the atmosphere. This work investigates the effect of collision-induced line narrowing onto the retrieval of HCl and HF vertical profiles from ground-based solar absorption FTIR measurements made at the NDSC station of the Jungfraujoch (46.5^°N, 8^°E and 3580 m above see level). The retrievals are performed with the Atmosphit software, recently developed at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. It is presented in this paper for the first time and is validated against the widely used SFIT2 software. The impact of the line narrowing onto the retrieval of HCl and HF vertical profiles is examined relying on careful information content and error budget analyses. We report that the effect is relatively weak for HCl but significant for HF. Confirmation of the need to take the line narrowing into account for the retrieval of vertical profiles from ground-based FTIR spectra is given by comparison with data from the HALOE space borne instrument, rather insensitive to this spectroscopic effect.     

O4对利用天顶散射光法测量大气组分含量的影响研究

通过实验证明是否考虑O₄的存在对利用天顶散射光测量大气组分含量的结果存在影响.介绍了天顶散射光的观测原理、实验仪器、测量方法、光谱处理以及浓度反演过程.用具体的实验数据说明考虑O₄在实验波段内的吸收能提高NO₂和O₃浓度反演结果的准确性.同时将观测得到的臭氧垂直柱密度与美国TOMS观测数据进行了对比. 关键词： 4')" href="#">O₄ 臭氧 天顶散射光 DOAS     

The primary design of advanced ground-based atmospheric microwave sounder and retrieval of physical parameters

This paper introduces a prototype of ground-based atmospheric microwave sounder that operates in K-band from 22 to 31 GHz and V-band from 51 to 59 GHz. Different from the MP3000A and RPG, the sounder adopts independent dual-band reflectors instead of sharing a dual-band reflector. The direct detect type receiver is applied, which is of smaller size, higher sensitivity, efficient data observing and lower nonlinear error than the widely used superheterodyne receiver. The observing brightness temperatures from this prototype agree well with the simulated brightness temperatures according to the ground-based radiative transfer theory. We use the artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm to retrieve temperature profiles, which has higher spatial resolution especially in the capping inversion when compared with the linear regression algorithm. The temperature retrievals are comparable with the retrievals from RPG and MP3000A retrieval models and have a smaller bias in some certain regions.     

An improved high-resolution solar reference spectrum for earth's atmosphere measurements in the ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared

We have developed an improved solar reference spectrum for use in the analysis of atmospheric spectra from vacuum wavelengths of 200.07 through 1000.99 nm. The spectrum is developed by combining high spectral resolution ground-based and balloon-based solar measurements with lower spectral resolution but higher accuracy irradiance information. The new reference spectrum replaces our previous reference spectrum, and its derivatives, for use in a number of physical applications for analysis of atmospheric spectra, including: wavelength calibration; determination of instrument transfer (slit) functions; Ring effect (Raman scattering) correction; and correction for spectral undersampling of atmospheric spectra, particularly those that are dilute in absorbers. The applicability includes measurements from the GOME, SCIAMACHY, OMI, and OMPS satellite instruments as well as aircraft-, balloon-, and ground-based measurements.     

Satellite measurements of atmospheric ozone profiles,including tropospheric ozone,from ultraviolet/visible measurements in the nadir geometry: a potential method to retrieve tropospheric ozone

Numerical studies of a new method for the retrieval of ozone profile information from nadir-observing satellite measurements in the ultraviolet and visible are presented. The method combines information from back scattered radiation in the Hartley band down to the O₃ concentration peak, lower atmospheric information from the temperature structure of the Huggins bands, and a constraint on the total column from the Chappuis bands. The Huggins bands' temperature structure provides altitude information on the ozone distribution that includes clear distinction between stratospheric and tropospheric ozone. Studies presented here include dependence of the retrieved O₃ profiles on surface albedo, tropospheric aerosol, and tropospheric O₃ content for a range of atmospheric conditions.     

Light transmittance in turbid media slabs used to model biological tissues; scaling laws

Near infrared (NIR) light propagation through turbid media, such as some polymers or milky solutions, is dominated by multiple scattering. Common equations for light transmittance in slabs of these turbid media include summations of infinite order. These preclude to obtain simple expressions from which information such as scale laws, absorption and scattering coefficient, etc. can be retrieved.In the present work we show, starting from the transmittances for semi-infinite media, that the cumbersome expressions from the theory can be written in a much more compact way, thus allowing, for example, to relate some magnitudes which are, in principle, not easily compared. Moreover, it is shown that it is simple to find out the mentioned scale laws, to fit the shape of the distribution of time of flight of photons and to obtain the momenta, 〈t^k〉 or, eventually 〈l^k〉, being l=(c/n)t, which can be useful for recovering the optical properties of the medium. This is of great interest for the case of biological media because it allows to retrieve simultaneously both, the absorption and scattering coefficient.     

Non-Voigt line-shape effects on retrievals of atmospheric ozone: Collisionally isolated lines

This paper addresses the question of errors in retrievals of vertical profiles of ozone from atmospheric spectra caused by assuming that the absorption lines have pure Voigt line shapes. The case of collisionally isolated transitions (no line mixing) is treated by considering only the effects of the speed dependence (SD) of the pressure broadening. The case of O₃ retrievals from a sequence of limb transmission spectra is first treated theoretically. The results show that the influence of SD is very small, leading to changes in the residuals and in the retrieved O₃ mixing ratios smaller than 1%. These findings are then confirmed by treating a series of spectra recorded by the ACE-FTS instrument. Similar exercises are also made for other observation techniques by treating simulated or measured limb and nadir emission spectra as well as ground-based solar and in-situ laser transmission data. All lead to the general conclusion that SD (and Dicke narrowing) can be neglected in retrievals of ozone amounts from recorded atmospheric spectra. Indeed, the biases caused in the ozone profiles by the use of pure Voigt line shapes still remain significantly smaller than the total error/uncertainty from other sources such as improper line intensities and widths, uncertainty in the instrument function, errors in the pressure and temperature profiles and so forth.     

Bayesian Approach to Retrieving a Vertical Ozone Profile from Radiometric Measurement Data

We propose a technique for retrieving a vertical profile of the atmospheric ozone number density from ground-based radiometry data. The technique is based on the Bayesian approach to solving inverse problems and permits one, by allowing for measurement noise and using certain a priori information on the retrieved profile, to construct the probability distribution of the ozone number density in the entire altitude range being monitored. Using the proposed technique, we compare the retrieval results obtained for various (both well-known and suggested for the first time in this paper) methods of approximation and regularization of retrieved profiles. Model examples demonstrate that the proposed technique is capable of retrieving ozone-profile disturbances which accompany the formation of ozone holes.     

Fast and accurate 4 and 6 stream linearized discrete ordinate radiative transfer models for ozone profile retrieval

The global and long-term measurement of ozone vertical and horizontal distributions is one of the most important tasks in the monitoring of the earth's atmosphere. A number of satellite instruments are capable of delivering ozone profile distributions from UV nadir backscatter measurements. Retrieval algorithms should be efficient enough to deliver profiles in real-time without compromising accuracy. Such algorithms require a radiative transfer model that can generate quickly and accurately both simulated radiances and Jacobian matrices of weighting functions. We develop fast and analytic 4 stream and 6 stream linearized discrete ordinate models designed to satisfy performance and accuracy requirements for such an algorithm. The models have the pseudo-spherical treatment of the direct beam attenuation. For anisotropic scattering we use the delta-M scaling method to deal with strong forward scattering peaks. We demonstrate that the accuracy of the models is improved greatly upon application of a single scatter correction based on an exact specification of the phase function. For wide-angle off-nadir viewing, a sphericity correction is developed to deal more precisely with attenuation in a curved atmosphere. Radiances and weighting functions for the 4 and 6 stream models are compared with 20 stream output from the LIDORT model. We show that for the UV range pertinent to ozone profile retrieval from space, the 4 stream model generates backscatter radiances to an accuracy >1.25% for all viewing situations in a clear sky Rayleigh and background aerosol reference atmosphere, and up to 1.75% for a number of special scenarios with optically thick particulate layers. Six stream radiances are accurate to the 0.25% level for clear sky situations, and 0.65% for the special cases; weighting functions for the 6 stream output are accurate to ±2% in all cases. We discuss the implications of these comparisons regarding the performance and accuracy of the radiative transfer forward model in the ozone profile retrieval context.     

Sensitivity of multi-angle photo-polarimetry to vertical layering and mixing of absorbing aerosols: Quantifying measurement uncertainties

The impact of tropospheric aerosols on climate can vary greatly based upon relatively small variations in aerosol properties, such as composition, shape and size distributions, as well as vertical layering. Polarimetric measurements have been advocated in recent years as an additional tool to better understand and retrieve the aerosol properties needed for improved predictions of aerosol radiative forcing on climate. The goal of this study is to introduce a formal approach to assessing the sensitivity of both intensity and polarization signals to absorbing aerosol layering, explicitly accounting for instrument measurement uncertainties. If ignored, sensitivity to aerosol height can introduce biases in aerosol property retrievals at short (ultraviolet or blue) wavelengths; if properly exploited, it may enable the extraction of some basic information on aerosol profiles. Employing a vector successive-orders-of-scattering (SOS) radiative transfer code, we conducted modeling experiments to determine how the measured Stokes vector elements are affected at 446 nm (blue band) by the vertical distribution, mixing and layering of smoke and dust aerosols under the assumption of a simple Lambertian surface and predefined aerosol microphysical properties. We find that smoke and dust vertical layering, if ignored, can introduce biases in radiometric and polarimetric aerosol property retrievals for aerosol optical depth (AOD) above 0.3 (polarimetric) and AOD above 0.5 (radiometric), and should, therefore, be accounted for in retrievals at high aerosol loadings.     

Modeling of atmospheric radiative transfer with polarization and its application to the remote sensing of tropospheric ozone

Light reflected or transmitted by a planetary atmosphere contains information about particles and molecules in the atmosphere. Therefore, accurate modeling of the radiation field may be used to retrieve information on atmospheric composition. In this paper, a multi-layer model for a vertically inhomogeneous atmosphere is implemented by using the doubling-adding method for a plane-parallel atmosphere. By studying the degree of linear polarization of the transmitted and reflected solar light in the Huggins bands, we find significant differences between tropospheric ozone and stratospheric ozone. The effects of tropospheric ozone change on the linear polarization are 10 times more than that of the same amount of stratospheric ozone change. We also show the aerosol effect on the linear polarization, but this effect is wavelength independent as compared to that caused by the tropospheric ozone change. The results provide a theoretical basis for the retrieval of tropospheric ozone from measurement of linear polarization of the scattered sunlight both from the ground and from a satellite.     

Sensitivity of stratospheric ozone lidar measurements to a change in ozone absorption cross-sections

The effect of a change in ozone absorption cross-section data is evaluated for stratospheric ozone lidar measurements, which are regularly performed for the monitoring of the ozone layer. The change is analysed for the measurements based on both the elastic and Raman scattering of the laser light by the atmosphere. The latter technique is essentially used for measurements performed in the presence of volcanic aerosol layers in the stratosphere. The discrepancy in ozone number densities is evaluated for various ozone cross-section data sets, using an atmospheric model for the evaluation of ozone cross-section temperature dependence. Results show that the difference in both elastic and Raman DIAL retrievals is below 1.5% in absolute values from 10 to 30 km. Above 30 km, the difference, estimated for the elastic DIAL retrieval only, is maximum around 45 km, with largest differences reaching 1.8% in the tropics.     

大气CO2卫星遥感中植物叶绿素荧光影响的校正

大气CO₂卫星遥感监测的关键在于高精度,而植物叶绿素荧光存在与大气散射相似的光谱特征,干扰大气散射相关参数的反演结果,从而影响CO₂的反演精度。因植物叶绿素荧光强度微弱且影响特征与大气散射高度相关而难以准确校正。鉴于现有大气CO₂卫星遥感精度不足,以及植物叶绿素荧光对大气CO₂反演存在不可忽视的影响程度和复杂性,设计了O₂-A、1.6和2.06 μm CO₂三个光谱带协同的参数化校正方法。首先通过对大气散射采取基于光子路径长度概率密度函数（PPDF）的参数化建模,降低叶绿素荧光与大气散射参数的光谱相关性;其次,针对叶绿素荧光强度弱,难以准确反演的问题,基于轨道碳观测器（OCO-2）的叶绿素荧光产品构建了5km分辨率的全球叶绿素荧光先验信息库,增强CO₂与叶绿素荧光同步反演中对叶绿素荧光的先验约束,提高叶绿素荧光的反演精度。通过O₂-A、1.6和2.06 μm CO₂三个光谱带的协同同时反演大气散射、叶绿素荧光和大气CO₂,并结合叶绿素荧光丰富的先验信息,能够较准确剥离大气散射和叶绿素荧光而提高大气CO₂的反演精度。选择叶绿素荧光强度明显较高的柱总碳观测网络（TCCON）中的Park Falls（45.945°N,90.273°W）站点开展验证,对该站点近4年每年8月份的温室气体观测卫星（GOSAT）数据进行反演,发现植被叶绿素荧光导致GOSAT XCO₂反演结果系统偏低2×10-6(ppm)左右,通过本文的方法进行校正,反演结果的低估程度有明显改善,最大低估由2.58 ppm降低到1.49 ppm,且离散程度也有一定程度的改善,明显控制了CO₂反演中叶绿素荧光的影响,对于实现1%（~4 ppm）的CO₂反演精度来说,提供了有力支撑。     

Intercomparison of retrieval codes used for the analysis of high-resolution, ground-based FTIR measurements

A rigorous and systematic intercomparison of codes used for the retrieval of trace gas profiles from high-resolution ground-based solar absorption FTIR measurements is presented for the first time. Spectra were analyzed with the two widely used independent, retrieval codes: SFIT2 and PROFFIT9. Vertical profiles of O₃, HNO₃, HDO, and N₂O were derived from the same set of typical observed spectra. Analysis of O₃ was improved by using updated line parameters. It is shown that profiles and total column amounts are in excellent agreement, when similar constraints are applied, and that the resolution kernel matrices are also consistent. Owing to the limited altitude resolution of ground-based observations, the impact of the constraints on the solution is not negligible. It is shown that the results are also compatible for independently chosen constraints. Perspectives for refined constraints are discussed. It can be concluded that the error budget introduced by the radiative transfer code and the retrieval algorithm on total columns deduced from high-resolution ground-based solar FTIR spectra is below 1%.     

Improvement of the orbit of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spektr-R</Emphasis> spacecraft in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">RadioAstron</Emphasis> mission and required conditions for improvement using a Kalman filter

This paper is concerned with improvement of the state vector of the Spektr-R spacecraft of the RadioAstron mission. The state vector includes three coordinates of the position of the spacecraft and three components of its velocity in the Geocentric Celestial Reference System. Improvement of the orbit of the spacecraft is understood as improvement of the state vector. The results are compared with the original orbits determined at the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics (IAM). The paper considers both using the Kalman filter based on a single set of radio-range and Doppler data from ground-based stations and the analysis of conditions that will lead to improvement of the orbit. It has been shown that using three ground-based stations that perform simultaneous measurements the problem is solved completely, even when a poor initial approximation is used. Based on the results, a list of requirements is obtained that will provide more accurate information on the orbit of the Spektr-R spacecraft.