ABSTRACT
Inexpensive devices to measure solar UV irradiance are available to monitor atmospheric ozone, for example, total ozone portable spectroradiometers (TOPS instruments). A procedure to convert these measurements into ozone estimates is examined. For well-characterized filters with 7-nm FWHM bandpasses, the method provides ozone values (from 304- and 310-nm channels) with less than 0.4% error attributable to inversion of the theoretical model. Analysis of sensitivity to model assumptions and parameters yields estimates of ±3% bias in total ozone results with dependence on total ozone and path length. Unmodeled effects of atmospheric constituents and instrument components can result in additional ±2% errors.
ABSTRACT
We used a microcomputer-controlled total ozone portable spectroradiometer instrument #21 (MTOPS21) to measure solar radiation at 298, 304 and 310 nm in Greenbelt, Md., during 1995. One day's ozone measurements from a Brewer instrument (B105) were used to calibrate the 304- and 310-nm channel ratios to a theoretical model. Total ozone estimates were then determined for the entire MTOPS21 data set. Differences between individual B105 and MTOPS21 ozone estimates show a 1% drop as solar zenith angles increase and depend on atmospheric attenuation and SO(2) variation at the ±2% level. Daily average values agree well (<0.5% average offset, 2% standard deviation).