Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Measurement of Aerosols Optical Thickness of the Atmosphere using the GLOBE Handheld Sun Photometer
Published on: May 29, 2019
Tropospheric ozone profiles from a ground-based ultraviolet spectrometer: a new retrieval method
Xiong Liu1, Kelly Chance, Christopher E Sioris
1Atomic and Molecular Physics Division, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. xliu@cfa.harvard.edu
Abstract:
We present, to the best of our knowledge, a new method to retrieve tropospheric ozone (O3) profiles from ground-based ultraviolet spectroscopic measurements. This method utilizes radiance spectra in the Huggins bands (i.e., 300-340 nm) measured at three off-axis angles (e.g., 45 degrees, 75 degrees, and 85 degrees) normalized to direct-Sun irradiances or zenith-sky radiances with the total column O3 derived from direct-Sun or zenith-sky measurements as a constraint. The vertical resolution of the retrieved O3 values ranges from approximately 3 km near the surface to approximately 12 km at 20 km altitude. This method can be used to measure diurnal variation of tropospheric O3 profiles and is complementary to the Umkehr method that mainly measures ozone profiles in the stratosphere.
Related Concept Videos
Ultraviolet and Visible (UV–Vis) Spectroscopy: Overview
UV–Vis Spectrometers
UV–Vis Spectrum
The UV–Vis spectrum of a molecule is the plot of its absorbance versus wavelength. The plot is drawn by taking molar absorptivity (ε) or log ε on the y-axis (ordinate)...
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Molecular Electronic Transitions

