High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder: Experiment overview, recovery, and validation of initial temperature data

The High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS) experiment was designed to provide global temperature and composition data on the region from the upper troposphere to the mesopause with vertical and horizontal resolution not previously available. The science objectives are the study of small-scale dynamics and transports, including stratosphere-troposphere exchange, upper troposphere/lower stratosphere chemistry, aerosol, cirrus and PSC distributions, and gravity waves. The instrument features 21 channels, low noise levels, high vertical resolution, and a mechanical cooler for long life. During launch most of the optical aperture became obscured, so that only a potion of an optical beam width at a large azimuth from the orbital plane on the side away from the Sun can see the atmosphere. Irrecoverable loss of capabilities include limitation of coverage to the region 65°S-82°N and inability to obtain longitudinal resolution finer than an orbital spacing. While this optical blockage also impacted radiometric performance, extensive effort has gone into developing corrections for the several effects of the obstruction, so that radiances from some of the channels can be put into retrievals for temperature. Changes were also necessary for the retrieval algorithm. The validation of the resulting temperature retrievals is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of these corrections. The random errors range from ~0.5 K at 20 km to ~1.0 at 60 km, close to those predicted. Comparisons with high-resolution radiosondes, lidars, ACE-FTS, and ECMWF analyses give a consistent picture of HIRDLS temperatures being 1-2 K warm from 200 to 10 hPa and within ±2 K of standards from 200 to 2 hPa (but warmer in the region of the tropical tropopause), above which HIRDLS appears to be cold. Comparisons show that both COSMIC and HIRDLS can see small vertical features down to about 2 km wavelength. While further improvements in the data are expected, these data will allow HIRDLS to provide important support toward reaching the Aura objectives.

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An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2008 American Geophysical Union.
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Author Gille, John
Barnett, John
Arter, Philip
Barker, Marion
Bernath, Peter
Boone, Chris
Cavanaugh, Charles
Chow, Jonathon
Coffey, Michael
Craft, James
Craig, Cheryl
Dials, Michael
Dean, Vincil
Eden, Thomas
Edwards, David
Francis, Gene
Halvorson, Chris
Harvey, Lynn
Hepplewhite, Christopher
Khosravi, Rashid
Kinnison, Douglas
Krinsky, Charles
Lambert, Alyn
Lee, Hyunah
Lyjak, Lawrence
Loh, Joanne
Mankin, William
Massie, Steven
McInerney, Joseph
Moorhouse, Joseph
Nardi, Bruno
Packman, Daniel
Randall, Cora
Reburn, Jolyon
Rudolf, Wayne
Schwartz, Michael
Serafin, John
Stone, Kenneth
Torpy, Brendan
Walker, Kaley
Waterfall, Alison
Watkins, Robert
Whitney, John
Woodard, Douglas
Young, Gregory
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2008-06-27T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
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Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2023-08-18T19:06:43.521740
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:17510
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Gille, John, Barnett, John, Arter, Philip, Barker, Marion, Bernath, Peter, Boone, Chris, Cavanaugh, Charles, Chow, Jonathon, Coffey, Michael, Craft, James, Craig, Cheryl, Dials, Michael, Dean, Vincil, Eden, Thomas, Edwards, David, Francis, Gene, Halvorson, Chris, Harvey, Lynn, Hepplewhite, Christopher, Khosravi, Rashid, Kinnison, Douglas, Krinsky, Charles, Lambert, Alyn, Lee, Hyunah, Lyjak, Lawrence, Loh, Joanne, Mankin, William, Massie, Steven, McInerney, Joseph, Moorhouse, Joseph, Nardi, Bruno, Packman, Daniel, Randall, Cora, Reburn, Jolyon, Rudolf, Wayne, Schwartz, Michael, Serafin, John, Stone, Kenneth, Torpy, Brendan, Walker, Kaley, Waterfall, Alison, Watkins, Robert, Whitney, John, Woodard, Douglas, Young, Gregory. (2008). High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder: Experiment overview, recovery, and validation of initial temperature data. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7z32101. Accessed 26 June 2025.

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