Stratospheric H2O and HNO3 profiles derived from solar occultation measurements

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Abstract
Compact two‐channel radiometers for solar occultation experiments have been constructed in order to measure stratospheric trace gases. The instruments can be used as filter‐ or correlation‐type radiometers, depending on the trace gas under investigation. Within the LIMS correlative measurement program, balloon flights were performed with a payload of up to four of these two‐channel radiometers. From the filter‐type measurements, profiles of the trace gases H2O and HNO3 are inferred for the height region between the tropopause and the balloon float level. The data evaluation also includes a comprehensive analysis of the error sources and their effect on the accuracy of the trace gas profiles. The derived H2O and HNO3 profiles are assessed against the observations of other authors and are discussed in the light of the trace gas distributions calculated from photochemical models.