Ozone Observations from Five Satellite Instruments in November 1994

In early November 1994, during the ATLAS-3 space-shuttle mission, the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) instrument made measurements of many trace gases, including ozone. Ozone observations for this time period are available from four other satellite instruments: the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE), the UARS Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), the Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement (POAM II), and the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE II). Data from ATMOS and several of the other instruments have recently been reprocessed with new retrieval software versions. We compare observations from these five satellite instruments in potential vorticity (PV) coordinates by mapping the ozone observations during the ATLAS-3 period in Equivalent Latitude/theta space, as well as showing profile comparisons with the usual coincidence criteria augmented by requiring coincidence in potential vorticity. Reasons for discrepencies in Equivalent Latitude/theta maps of ozone related to the different sampling patterns of the instruments are discussed. High-resolution trajectory profile calculations are used to show the origins of laminated structures in ozone profiles from several instruments.