ULTRAVIOLET-ABSORPTION PHOTOMETER FOR MEASUREMENT OF OZONE ON A ROCKET-BOOSTED PAYLOAD

We developed a rocket payload to perform in situ measurements of atmos pheric ozone at the University of Houston. The ozone detector is a dua l-beam UV-absorption photometer that uses the 253.7-nm radiation from a low-pressure mercury-vapor lamp to illuminate two identical absorpti on chambers. We describe the design features and the operation of the instrument. The fundamental resolution of the photometer is shown to b e 2.7 x 10(15) molecules m(-3). We present the ozone profile measured during parachute descent following boasted ascent to 60 km by a Nike-O rion rocket. The uncertainty in the measurement of this ozone profile is estimated to be 8.2%. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America