Abstract

High resolution (0.002-0.003 cm^-1) Michelson type interferometer systems have been used to obtain infrared solar absorption spectra of the stratosphere during several balloon flights, as well as ground-based solar spectra and laboratory spectra of molecules of stratospheric interest. The stratospheric spectra cover the 700-2200 cm^-1 region and show many new spectral features of important atmospheric gases, such as O₃ (and isotopes), NO₂, HNO₃, O₂, and COF₂. Analysis of these features, combined with new theoretical and laboratory studies of the molecular absorption spectra, improves the spectral line parameters (mostly line positions, intensities, and pressure broadening) and leads to more complete lines identification and more accurate retrieval quantification of stratospheric gases. Ground-based spectra in the 3-12 μm region are obtained regularly from Mauna Loa (Hawaii) and Colorado, in support of the Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) and NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). Analysis of the ground-based spectra provides total column density for many gases and some altitude distribution information for species such as O₃, HCl, and HNO₃, as well as monitoring trace gases during special events, such as the July 1991 observations of stratospheric SO₂ from the Mt. Pinatubo eruption.

© 1992 Optical Society of America