COMPARISON OF CRYOGENIC LIMB ARRAY ETALON SPECTROMETER (CLAES) OZONE OBSERVATIONS WITH CORRELATIVE MEASUREMENTS

Ozone measurements made by the Cryogenic Limb array Etalon Spectromete r (CLAES) aboard the NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) a re compared to nearly coincident correlative measurements taken in 199 2 and 1993 and to mean ozone distributions observed by other satellite instruments during past missions. This paper describes the CLAES meas urement characteristics, uncertainties, predicted, and observed precis ions and compares the observations with independent measurements both qualitatively and statistically. Satellite- and ground-based remote se nsing as well as balloon-borne in situ measurements are represented in the correlative data set. The CLAES data are shown to be within +/- 2 0% of all correlative measurements between 0.5 and 30 mbar. Difference s at lower altitudes may be related to effects of the Pinatubo aerosol on certain of the correlative measurements and the CLAES retrieval. C omparisons with historical data from the LIMS, SAGE II, and SBUV instr uments indicate good agreement with the spatial and seasonal ozone dis tributions seen by CLAES.