Validation of atmospheric chemistry measurements from MIPAS,SCIAMACHY,GOMOS onboard ENVISAT by observations of balloon-borne MIPAS-B

In order to validate the atmospheric chemistry measurements by MIPAS,SCIAMACHY,and GOMOS onboard the ENVISAT,three flights of the balloon-borne Michelson Interferometer for Passive Sounding(MIPAS-B) were carried out in 2002 and 2003 at Aire sur l’Adour(France 44°N,0°E) and Esrange,Kiruna(Sweden 68°N,21°E).The validation campaign activities are summarized in this paper.The MIPAS-B instrument and its data processing procedure as well as the validation approaches are discussed in detail.The satellite and balloon measurements are matched with high coincidence in time and space,allowing a coincident approach to be applied for their comparisons.Further,a trajectory model is used to confirm and enhance the statistical significance of the validation.The validation results show that MIPAS measurements of accuracy for temperature,H2O,O3,HNO3,CH4,N2O,and NO2 are good in the altitude range of 8-39 km(No2,22-39 km).And the precision is good between the altitudes of 15-33 km(No2,22-23 km).However,some exceptions were also found for temperature,H2O,HNO3,and NO2.The SCIAMACHY data of accuracy for O3 and NO2 are within expectations between the altitudes 9-38 km except for O3 in 28-38 km.The GOMOS data about O3 and NO2 are promising according to the preliminary comparison results.