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Abstract. The upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS) represents an important part of the climate system. Even small changes in the composition and dynamic structure of this region have significant radiative effects. Quantifying the underlying physical and chemical processes therefore represents a crucial task. Currently, there is a lack of UTLS observations with sufficient three-dimensional resolution. The Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere (GLORIA) aircraft instrument addresses this observational lack by providing observations of numerous trace constituents as well as temperature and cloud structures with an unprecedented combination of vertical resolution (up to 300 m) and horizontal resolution (about 30 km × 30 km). As a result, important scientific questions concerning stratosphere-troposphere exchange, the occurrence of subvisible cirrus clouds in the lowermost stratosphere (LMS), polar chemistry, and gravity wave processes can be addressed, as reviewed in this paper.

Abstract. Atmospheric gravity waves are a major cause of uncertainty in atmosphere general circulation models. This uncertainty affects regional climate projections and seasonal weather predictions. Improving the representation of gravity waves in general circulation models is therefore of primary interest. In this regard, measurements providing an accurate 3-D characterization of gravity waves are needed. Using the Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere (GLORIA), the first airborne implementation of a novel infrared limb imaging technique, a gravity wave event over Iceland was observed. An air volume disturbed by this gravity wave was investigated from different angles by encircling the volume with a closed flight pattern. Using a tomographic retrieval approach, the measurements of this air mass at different angles allowed for a 3-D reconstruction of the temperature and trace gas structure. The temperature measurements were used to derive gravity wave amplitudes, 3-D wave vectors, and direction-resolved momentum fluxes. These parameters facilitated the backtracing of the waves to their sources on the southern coast of Iceland. Two wave packets are distinguished, one stemming from the main mountain ridge in the south of Iceland and the other from the smaller mountains in the north. The total area-integrated fluxes of these two wave packets are determined. Forward ray tracing reveals that the waves propagate laterally more than 2000 km away from their source region. A comparison of a 3-D ray-tracing version to solely column-based propagation showed that lateral propagation can help the waves to avoid critical layers and propagate to higher altitudes. Thus, the implementation of oblique gravity wave propagation into general circulation models may improve their predictive skills.

MIPAS-B2 is a balloon-borne limb-emission sounder for atmospheric research. The heart of the instrument is a Fourier spectrometer that covers the mid-infrared spectral range (4-14 microns) and operates at cryogenic temperatures. Essential for this application is the sophisticated line-of-sight stabilization system, which is based on an inertial navigation system and is supplemented with an additional star reference system. The major scientific benefit of the instrument is the simultaneous detection of complete trace gas families in the stratosphere without restrictions concerning the time of day and viewing directions. The specifications, the design considerations, the actual realization of the instrument, and the results of characterization measurements that have been performed are described.

Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) were observed by the high resolution mid infrared Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding, Balloon borne version (MIPAS‐B), on a flight from Kiruna/Sweden on January 11, 2001. Highly resolved spectral features in the limb measurements could only be explained by tropospheric radiation scattered into the line of sight by large PSC particles. Furthermore, model calculations showed that for PSCs with particles of radius ≥1 μm, a significant part of the broadband continuum radiance signal is due to scattering. Inclusion of scattering in the retrieval process resulted in reasonable values of otherwise largely overestimated PSC volume density profiles.