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1741401 
Journal Article 
Stratospheric and upper tropospheric aerosol retrieval from limb scatter signals 
Rault, D; Loughman, R 
2007 
Unk 
Proceedings of SPIE
ISSN: 0277-786X
EISSN: 1996-756X 
Proceedings of SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering 
6745 
WOS:000253868600007 
Solar occultation observations made by the SAGE family of space instruments have provided a record of global stratospheric and upper tropospheric aerosols that extends over 25 years. Since the demise of SAGE H and SAGE M however, there are presently no space instruments devoted to continuing this aerosol data set. The paper aims to demonstrate that aerosol extinction profiles, together with a moment of the size distribution, can be accurately retrieved from Limb Scatter measurements. The methodology is described, and retrieval examples are presented using data from a limb Scatter instrument, namely SAGE M. The retrieved extinction profiles are compared with SAGE 11 and SAGE III occultation aerosol products for a series of wavelengths. It is shown that the relative retrieval accuracy is good (less than 5%), with a relative precision on the order of 25%. Once operational, it is planned to apply the retrieval method to the data collected by the two still-operating Limb Scatter instruments (namely OSIRIS and SCIAMACHY) in order to extend the aerosol data record into the present time. In the future, the OMPS Limb Profiler instrument, which is presently manifested on NPP with a launch date of September 2009, will be used for additional stratospheric aerosol research. 
stratospheric aerosols; remote sensing; limb scatter