Abstract

The relationship between the uncertainty and the resolution of the mixing-ratio profiles of absorbing gases retrieved from simulated occultation data has been investigated by analyzing sets of absorber amounts, corresponding to a constituent with a constant vertical mixing-ratio profile, along atmospheric paths observed by instruments at 0, 30, and 500 km. The vertical resolution below the instrument is limited by the number of observations and the SNR; it degrades exponentially with height and is independent of the instrument altitude; it is nearly 50 times better than the resolution obtainable above the instrument. An estimate of the resolution obtained by analyzing line shapes is included for comparison.

© 1983 Optical Society of America

Stratospheric trace constituent profile retrievals using laser heterodyne radiometer IR limb sensing spectra

Arun K. Majumdar, Robert T. Menzies, and Sohan L. Jain
Appl. Opt. 20(3) 505-513 (1981)

Retrieval of constituent mixing ratios from limb thermal emission spectra

William A. Shaffer, Virgil G. Kunde, and Barney J. Conrath
Appl. Opt. 27(16) 3482-3491 (1988)

Effects of systematic errors on the mixing ratios of trace gases obtained from occultation spectra

William A. Shaffer, John H. Shaw, and Crofton B. Farmer
Appl. Opt. 23(16) 2818-2826 (1984)

Retrieval of vertical constituents and temperature profiles from passive submillimeter wave limb observations of the Martian atmosphere: a feasibility study

Joachim Urban, Karin Dassas, François Forget, and Philippe Ricaud
Appl. Opt. 44(12) 2438-2455 (2005)

Atmospheric temperature profiles and ray paths from occultation spectra

Michael L. Hoke and John H. Shaw
Appl. Opt. 24(9) 1309-1312 (1985)