Distribution of Water Vapor in the Stratosphere as Determined from Balloon Measurements of Atmospheric Emission Spectra in the 24–29-μm Region

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Abstract
The stratospheric water vapor mixing ratio altitude profile has been derived from spectral observations of the downward night emission from the pure rotation water vapor lines in the 24–29-μm region of the spectrum. The data were obtained during two balloon flights, made on 22 February 1971 and on 29 June 1971, using a balloon-borne spectral radiometer with ~2 cm−1 resolution. The observed radiances have been fitted to line-by-line, layer-by-layer radiance calculations, from which the water vapor mixing ratio between 10 km and 30 km has been derived. The resulting mixing ratio altitude profiles from both flights show a broad minimum around 15 km and a broad maximum around 25 km with a range of values of 6 × 10−7g/g to 4 × 10−6 g/g.

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