Vertical profiles of aerosol volume from high-spectral-resolution infrared transmission measurements. I. Methodology

The wavelength-dependent aerosol extinction in the 800-1250-cm(-1) region has been derived from ATMOS (atmospheric trace molecule spectroscopy) high-spectral-resolution IR transmission measurements. Using models of aerosol and cloud extinction, we have performed weighted nonlinear least-squares fitting to determine the aerosol-volume columns and vertical profiles of stratospheric sulfate aerosol and cirrus cloud volume. Modeled extinction by use of cold-temperature aerosol optical constants for a 70-80% sulfuric-acid-water solution shows good agreement with the measurements, and the derived aerosol volumes for a 1992 occultation are consistent with data from other experiments after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The retrieved sulfuric acid aerosol-volume profiles are insensitive to the aerosol-size distribution and somewhat sensitive to the set of optical constants used. Data from the nonspherical cirrus extinction model agree well with a 1994 mid-latitude measurement indicating the presence of cirrus clouds at the tropopause.