Stratospheric N_2O mixing ratio profile from high-resolution balloon-borne solar absorption spectra and laboratory spectra near 1880 cm^−1

Abstract

A nonlinear least-squares fitting procedure has been used to derive the stratospheric N₂O mixing ratio profile from balloon-borne solar absorption spectra and laboratory spectra near 1880 cm⁻¹. The atmospheric spectra were recorded during sunset from a float altitude of 33 km with the University of Denver 0.02-cm⁻¹ resolution interferometer near Alamogordo, N.M. (33°N), on 10 Oct. 1979. The laboratory data were used to determine the N₂O line intensities. The measurements indicate an N₂O mixing ratio of 264 ppbv near 15 km decreasing to 155 ppbv near 28 km.