Key ozonesonde sites for early Aura validation (first 6- 9 months after launch):
The list below is somewhat longer (by a factor of ~2) than the ‘minimum list’ desired for early validation, but this is to ensure that Aura investigators get a better chance of obtaining something close to the minimum subset.
Aura team comments (for high priority and ‘minimum’ goals): See the July 2004 pre-launch meeting notes (at the Aura Validation Data Center (AVDC) web site) for Aura minimum goals (site list):
- MLS: Minimum goal is to get at least 1 or 2 sites with regular data in each of the 5 latitude ‘bins’ + consistency with the overall Aura minimum goals.
- Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES): Sites near ocean are highest priority (to be modified as needed by TES).
- High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS): Similar to MLS goals (to be modified as needed by HIRDLS).
- Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI): Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) and Paramaribo sites are to provide measurement deliverables for OMI (per M. Kroon, who also has provided contact name information); initial focus for OMI ozone will be on column abundances, but setting up for the sonde data is deemed very useful for 2nd order validation phase.
5 latitude regions are represented below (+ some longitudinal/regional differences – these are deemed desirable for a variety of validation conditions).
Key Ozonesonde Site List (tentative list and not meant to be exclusive):
No. |
Name |
Lat. |
Long. |
(approximate coordinates, in degrees - draft!) |
| 1. |
Alert |
80 |
-62 |
|
| 2. |
Ny Alesund |
79 |
12 |
|
| 3. |
Sodankyla |
67 |
27 |
[probably also H2O sonde data] |
| 4. |
KNMI |
52 |
5 |
|
| 5. |
Hohenpeissenberg |
48 |
11 |
|
| 6. |
Payerne |
47 |
7 |
|
| 7. |
Boulder |
40 |
-105 |
|
| 8. |
Wallops |
38 |
-75 |
|
| 9. |
Huntsville |
35 |
-86 |
|
| 10. |
Hilo |
20 |
-155 |
|
| 11. |
Paramaribo |
5 |
-55 |
|
| 12. |
Galapagos |
0 |
-90 |
|
| 13. |
San Cristobal |
-1 |
-90 |
|
| 14. |
Ascension Island |
-8 |
-14 |
|
| 15. |
Australia (Darwin?) |
-12 |
130(?) |
|
| 16. |
Samoa |
-13 |
-172 |
|
| 17. |
Fiji |
-18 |
-177 |
|
| 18. |
Irene |
-26 |
28 |
|
| 19. |
Launder |
-45 |
170 |
|
| 20. |
Syowa |
-69 |
40 |
|
| 21. |
Neumayer |
-70 |
-8 |
|
| 22. |
South Pole |
-90 |
|
|
At least 8 of these sites (see Appendix A2) are expected to be (currently) producing HDF4 type files (for ENVISAT Cal/Val), namely Ny Alesund, Sodankyla, KNMI, Hohenpeissenberg, Payerne, Paramaribo, Lauder, and Neumayer.
Timed overpasses with Aura: It is hoped / expected that timed overpasses will be arranged (and per plans already made for Aura validation) for some of he above sites (some of these have been arranged for Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) overpasses, which is very close in time to Aura overpasses, e.g. at Huntsville). (Some) Aura instrument teams would like to see this happen ASAP after September 2004, and for several of the above sites (still TBD, but some near the ocean).
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