Atmospheric sounding from satellite solar occultation refraction measurements

Abstract

Measurements of the refractive bending of solar radiation passing through the limb of the Earth's atmosphere can be utilized to recover vertical profiles of density and temperature. These parameters obtained using the technique of solar refractive sounding could be used to improve satellite solar occultation trace species retrievals and to monitor potential trends in upper atmospheric temperatures. The solar refractive sounding method is described in detail and applied to data available from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE II). The meteorological profiles derived from the SAGE II data are not consistently accurate enough for general use due to poor vertical sampling and measurement uncertainties. However, the qualitatively decent results provide optimism for future development and implementation of solar occultation refractive sounders. Better techniques for measuring solar refraction and the potential improvements in the retrievals are also discussed.