Estimating the Vertical Atmospheric Ozone Distribution by Inverting the Radiative Transfer Equation for Pure Molecular Scattering

Abstract

A method of estimating the vertical distribution of ozone by inverting the equation of radiative transfer is presented. The method allows for all orders of scattering as well as polarization of the diffusely reflected sunlight. The information content of the reflected sunlight as a function of observation angle is examined for the case where perfect measurements are assumed, and also for the case where a 1% random error is introduced into the measurements. Inversion results utilizing simulated satellite measurements are presented for several different ozone soundings.