Validation of ACE-FTS v2.2 methane profiles from the upper troposphere to lower mesosphere
journal contribution
posted on 2024-11-14, 01:07 authored by M De Maziere, C Vigouroux, P F Bernath, P Baron, T Blumenstock, C Boone, C Brogniez, V Catoire, M Coffey, P Duchatelet, David GriffithDavid Griffith, J Hannigan, Y Kasai, I Kramer, Nicholas JonesNicholas Jones, E Mahieu, G L Manney, C Piccolo, C Randall, C Robert, C Senten, K Strong, J R Taylor, C Tetard, K A Walker, S WoodThe ACE-FTS (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer) solar occultation instrument that was launched onboard the Canadian SCISAT-1 satellite in August 2003 is measuring vertical profiles from the upper troposphere to the lower mesosphere for a large number of atmospheric constituents. Methane is one of the key species. The version v2.2 data of the ACE-FTS CH4 data have been compared to correlative satellite, balloon-borne and ground-based Fourier transform infrared remote sensing data to assess their quality. The comparison results indicate that the accuracy of the data is within 10% in the upper troposphere lower stratosphere, and within 25% in the middle and higher stratosphere up to the lower mesosphere (km). The observed differences are generally consistent with reported systematic uncertainties. ACE-FTS is also shown to reproduce the variability of methane in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere.