An Eight-year Record of Ozone Profiles and Tropospheric Column Ozone from Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (gome)

This paper presents an eight-year record (July 1995June 2003) of ozone profiles and tropospheric column ozone (TCO) retrieved from GOME ultraviolet radiance spectra using the optimal estimation technique, including detailed treatments of wavelength and radiometric calibrations and forward radiative transfer modeling. The agreement with Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) data is usually within 15% down to 15 km. The total ozone agrees with TOMS and Dobson/Brewer measurements to within 1-2%. The retrievals can capture the spatiotemporal evolution of TCO in response to regional or short time-scale events such as the 1997-1998 El Niño event and a 10-20 DU change within a few days. The mean biases relative to ozonesonde data are usually within 3 DU (15%) and the standard deviations are within 3-8 DU (13-27%). The global distribution of TCO displays nearly zonal bands of enhanced TCO of 36-48 DU at 20oS-30oS during the austral spring and at 25oN-45oN during the boreal spring and summer.