January 2008: Validation of TES Ozone using Ozonesonde Measurements

In order to characterize the accuracy and precision of ozone profiles measured by NASA's Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) on the Aura satellite, approximately 1600 profiles were compared with ozonesonde profiles from sites around the world. The TES bias and precision were assessed in six latitude zones as shown for the tropics (15°S-15°N) in the lower panels.

This study was the largest and most comprehensive TES ozone validation effort to date and has helped to identify areas for improvement in subsequent retrieval versions. Although a small positive bias in TES ozone was identified, the work reinforces the fact that the relative variations in ozone measured by TES are meaningful.

For more details see Nassar et al. [2008], which will appear in the Aura Validation special issue of JGR.