GROUND-BASED SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC OZONE FROM 142TO 359 GHZ IN SOUTHERN EUROPE

During different periods of time between 1991 and 1996 we have achieve d ground-based observations of rotational lines of atmospheric ozone u sing two different ground-based radio telescopes located in southern E urope: the 30 meters IRAM radio telescope at Pico Veleta (latitude 37: 04:05.60 degrees N, longitude 3:23:58.10 degrees W, altitude 2850 m) a nd POM-2 at Plateau de Pure, (Hautes Alpes, France, latitude 44:38:02. 00 degrees N, longitude 5:54:28.50 degrees E, altitude 2550 m). A tota l of eight different ozone lines have been observed with frequencies i n the range 142-359 GHz. Several back-end spectrometers were able to a nalyze the incoming signal with very different frequency resolutions a nd total spectral coverage. This has allowed us to retrieve informatio n about the vertical profile of ozone over a relatively wide range of altitudes. The retrieval itself has been achieved by means of a nonlin ear least squares fit of the observed line profile, taking into accoun t the spectroscopic, observational, and instrumental parameters of the different observations. A comparison between the ozone amounts retrie ved fr om observations of different ozone lines in winter and summerti me is given separately. Ozone amounts obtained from the different inst ruments and ozone lines are consistent.