Retrieval of atmospheric trace gases from satellite infrared limb sounding data

The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) instrument which operated in the near-to-mid infrared on the Envisat satellite from 2002–2012 is a Fourier-transform spectrometer for the measurement of high-resolution atmospheric emission spectra at the Earth’s limb. The initial operational products are profiles of temperature, H2O, O3, CH4, N2O, HNO3, and NO2, and this list is extended to include the important GHG (greenhouse gases) and ODS (ozone depleting substances) species using MORSE (orbital retrieval processor). This paper discusses retrievals of minor trace species of HCFC-22, HOCl, OCS, C2H6, COF2, HCN, CF4, SF6, and CCl4. Preliminary zonal mean results of these retrievals are satisfactory except for HCN and CF4 species. We then use MIPAS to estimate the total F and Cl budget in the atmosphere. Comparisons with SLIMCAT are also discussed, with the results consistent. Finally, we focus on improving the retrieval method for minor trace species, COF2, by adjusting correlation length and a priori constraint, as well as the chi-square method introduced to analyze noise. Tests have shown that our improvement could get more information from the measurements.