Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
AMT
Articles | Volume 9, issue 9
Articles | Volume 9, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4447-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4447-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Articles | Volume 9, issue 9
Research article
 | 
08 Sep 2016
Research article |  | 08 Sep 2016

Recent divergences in stratospheric water vapor measurements by frost point hygrometers and the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder

Dale F. Hurst, William G. Read, Holger Vömel, Henry B. Selkirk, Karen H. Rosenlof, Sean M. Davis, Emrys G. Hall, Allen F. Jordan, and Samuel J. Oltmans

Data sets

FPH data for Boulder, Hilo and Lauder NOAA ftp://ftp.cmdl.noaa.gov/data/ozwv/WaterVapor

FP data for Lindenberg, Boulder, Hilo, San José and Lauder GCOS Reference Upper Air Network http://www.gruan.org

FP data for Lindenberg, Boulder, Hilo, San José and Lauder Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change http://www. 60 ndsc.ncep.noaa.gov

MLS version 3.3 data Aura Validation Data Center http://avdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/satellite/Aura/MLS/V03/L2GPOVP/H2O

MLS 4.2 overpass data Aura Validation Data Center http://avdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/satellite/Aura/MLS/V04/L2GPOVP/H2O

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Short summary
This study compares stratospheric water vapor measurements by the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and balloon-borne frost point hygrometers (FPs) at five sites that launch two different types of FPs. The results demonstrate that FP and MLS measurements have been diverging at statistically significant rates of 0.6 to 1.5 % per year since approximately 2010. Similarities in the divergences at different sites suggest a positive drift in MLS retrievals since approximately 2010.
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Special issue
Water vapour in the upper troposphere and middle atmosphere:...