Mesospheric Temperature and Ozone Sounding Based on Solar Occultation Data- Retrieval Processing System and Performance Analysis

The understanding of physical and chemical processes§of the Earth atmosphere is of crucial importance to§daily life and to future conditions of this planet.§Observations of atmospheric parameters with high§quality and long-term stability are essential for§climate system monitoring. This work develops and§demonstrates the performance of a realistic forward§model and retrieval algorithm for mesospheric §temperature and ozone sounding employing the solar§occultation technique. The solar intensity in the§ultraviolet wavelength region is monitored by a§satellite tracking the Sun in limb geometry during§occultation by the Earth's atmosphere. A processing§system is presented and used to calculate atmospheric§profiles from the solar radiation. This includes a§mathematical description of the measurement and§retrieval. The author Christoph Rehrl presents an§end-to-end retrieval performance analysis for the§developed retrieval processing system which was found§to produce data with high vertical resolution and§accuracy. This work provides a comprehensive insight§in the present status as well as future developments§in the field of solar occultations for probing§atmosphere and climate.