Science Update: Validation of monthly zonal mean ozone profiles from the SBUVv8.6 algorithm

A new ACP article by N.A. Kramarova and co-authors presents a validation of ozone profiles from the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV and SBUV/2) instruments that were recently reprocessed using an updated (version 8.6) algorithm. The SBUV data record covers the period 1970-2011, with a 5 year gap in the 1970s. Validation with MLS (on board the UARS and Aura satellites) and SAGE-II satellite observations, as well as ground-based observations from microwave spectrometers, lidars, Umkehr instruments and balloon-borne ozonesondes. They find that in the stratosphere, between 25 and 1 hPa, the mean biases and standard deviations are mostly within 5% for monthly zonal mean ozone profiles. Above and below this layer the vertical resolution of the SBUV algorithm decreases. In order to account for the lower resolution in the troposphere/lower stratosphere, they combine several layers of data. The drift of the SBUV instruments is also estimated, as well as its potential effect on the long-term stability of the combined data record. The features of individual SBUV(/2) instruments are discussed and recommendations for creating a merged SBUV data set are provided. The full abstract can be found here.