CEDAR: SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) Stellar Occultation: Upper Atmospheric Oxygen (O2) and Ozone (O3)

Computational Physics Inc, Springfield VA

Investigators

Abstract

The altitude profile of O2 number density between 120-250 km, and the altitude profile of O3 number density between 50-100 km, are provided by the method of stellar occultation. Solar UV irradiance in the O2 Schumann Runge continuum and in the O3 Harley bands is monitored using the Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE) aboard the Solar Radiation and Climate (SORCE) satellite, as a non-varying star passes through the earth's limb as seen from orbit. Resulting data are subject to a rigorous error analysis, and compared to The Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) and to the Mass Spectrometer and Incoherent Scatter (MSIS) models for validation purposes. Derived O2 and O3 profiles may also be used for quantification of analytic photochemical and dynamic models of the middle atmosphere.