We have built and tested two autonomous ozone measurement systems for use on ocean buoys and towers. They are based on low-power atmospheric ozone sensors from Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) and 2B Technologies. The PSI sensor operates at 1 Hz with a precision of 1 ppb, but requires about 45 W with the present data system; the 2B makes a measurement every 10 seconds with a precision of 1-2 ppb and uses less than 4 W. The sensors have been packaged in watertight enclosures, with a set of valves and filters to keep out seawater and aerosols. A controller uses data from the sensors and a meteorological system to determine whether sampling should proceed. If a sensor malfunction (such as an incorrect valve position or a temperature beyond its proper range) is detected, the controller attempts to correct it. Both sensors have been tested and used over the ocean, and one complete ozone measurement system (with the PSI sensor) has been successfully deployed on a buoy off Woods Hole. In 2003, this system was operated at the Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Tower for over a month with excellent results. The2B system was also successfully tested in 2003, at a nearby offshore tower. The design of the systems and their testing and deployments are described, and data from some of the first experiments are presented.

On 2 June 2003, the Baltimore Bomem Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (BBAERI) recorded an infrared spectral time series indicating the presence of a tropospheric ozone anomaly. The measurements were collected during an Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) validation campaign called the 2003 AIRS BBAERI Ocean Validation Experiment (ABOVE03) conducted at the United States Coast Guard Chesapeake Light station located 14 miles due east of Virginia Beach, Virginia (36.91°N, 75.71°W). Ozone retrievals were performed with the Kurt Lightner Ozone BBAERI Retrieval (KLOBBER) algorithm, which retrieves tropospheric column ozone, surface to 300 mbar, from zenith‐viewing atmospheric thermal emission spectra. KLOBBER is modeled after the AIRS retrieval algorithm consisting of a synthetic statistical regression followed by a physical retrieval. The physical retrieval is implemented using the k‐Compressed Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Algorithm (kCARTA) to compute spectra. The time series of retrieved integrated ozone column on 2 June 2003 displays spikes of about 10 Dobson units, well above the error of the KLOBBER algorithm. Using instrumentation at Chesapeake Light, satellite imaging, trace gas retrievals from satellites, and Potential Vorticity (PV) computations, it was determined that these sudden increases in column ozone likely were caused by a combination of midtropospheric biomass burning products from forest fires in Siberia, Russia, and stratospheric intrusion by a tropopause fold occurring over central Canada and the midwestern United States.

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