[1] The Earth Observing System (EOS) Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) aboard the Aura satellite has provided essentially daily global measurements of ozone (O 3 ) profiles from the upper troposphere to the upper mesosphere since August of 2004. This paper focuses on validation of the MLS stratospheric standard ozone product and its uncertainties, as obtained from the 240 GHz radiometer measurements, with a few results concerning mesospheric ozone. We compare average differences and scatter from matched MLS version 2.2 profiles and coincident ozone profiles from other satellite instruments, as well as from aircraft lidar measurements taken during Aura Validation Experiment (AVE) campaigns. Ozone comparisons are also made between MLS and balloon-borne remote and in situ sensors. We provide a detailed characterization of random and systematic uncertainties for MLS ozone. We typically find better agreement in the comparisons using MLS version 2.2 ozone than the version 1.5 data. The agreement and the MLS uncertainty estimates in the stratosphere are often of the order of 5%, with values closer to 10% (and occasionally 20%) at the lowest stratospheric altitudes, where small positive MLS biases can be found. There is very good agreement in the latitudinal distributions obtained from MLS and from coincident profiles from other satellite instruments, as well as from aircraft lidar data along the MLS track.

[1] The quality of the version 2.2 (v2.2) middle atmosphere water vapor and nitrous oxide measurements from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aura satellite is assessed. The impacts of the various sources of systematic error are estimated by a comprehensive set of retrieval simulations. Comparisons with correlative data sets from ground-based, balloon and satellite platforms operating in the UV/visible, infrared and microwave regions of the spectrum are performed. Precision estimates are also validated, and recommendations are given on the data usage. The v2.2 H 2 O data have been improved over v1.5 by providing higher vertical resolution in the lower stratosphere and better precision above the stratopause. The single-profile precision is $0.2-0.3 ppmv (4-9%), and the vertical resolution is $3-4 km in the stratosphere. The precision and vertical resolution become worse with increasing height above the stratopause. Over the pressure range 0.1-0.01 hPa the precision degrades from 0.4 to 1.1 ppmv (6-34%), and the vertical resolution degrades to $12-16 km. The accuracy is estimated to be 0.2-0.5 ppmv (4-11%) for the pressure range 68-0.01 hPa. The scientifically useful range of the H 2 O data is from 316 to 0.002 hPa, although only the 82-0.002 hPa pressure range is validated here. Substantial improvement has been achieved in the v2.2 N 2 O data over v1.5 by reducing a significant low bias in the stratosphere and eliminating unrealistically high biased mixing ratios in the polar regions. The single-profile precision is $13-25 ppbv (7-38%), the vertical resolution is $4-6 km and the accuracy is estimated to be 3-70 ppbv (9-25%) for the pressure range 100-4.6 hPa. The scientifically useful range of the N 2 O data is from 100 to 1 hPa. Citation: Lambert, A., et al. (2007), Validation of the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder middle atmosphere water vapor and nitrous oxide measurements,

[1] We assess the quality of the version 2.2 (v2.2) ClO measurements from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Earth Observing System Aura satellite. The MLS v2.2 ClO data are scientifically useful over the range 100 to 1 hPa, with a single-profile precision of $0.1 ppbv throughout most of the vertical domain. Vertical resolution is $3-4 km. Comparisons with climatology and correlative measurements from a variety of different platforms indicate that both the amplitude and the altitude of the peak in the ClO profile in the upper stratosphere are well determined by MLS. The latitudinal and seasonal variations in the ClO distribution in the lower stratosphere are also well determined, but a substantial negative bias is present in both daytime and nighttime mixing ratios at retrieval levels below (i.e., pressures larger than) 22 hPa. Outside of the winter polar vortices, this negative bias can be eliminated by subtracting gridded or zonal mean nighttime values from the individual daytime measurements. In studies for which knowledge of lower stratospheric ClO mixing ratios inside the winter polar vortices to better than a few tenths of a ppbv is needed, however, day À night differences are not recommended and the negative bias must be corrected for by subtracting the estimated value of the bias from the individual measurements at each affected retrieval level.

[1] We assess the quality of the version 2.2 (v2.2) HNO 3 measurements from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Earth Observing System Aura satellite. The MLS HNO 3 product has been greatly improved over that in the previous version (v1.5), with smoother profiles, much more realistic behavior at the lowest retrieval levels, and correction of a high bias caused by an error in one of the spectroscopy files used in v1.5 processing. The v2.2 HNO 3 data are scientifically useful over the range 215 to 3.2 hPa, with single-profile precision of $0.7 ppbv throughout. Vertical resolution is 3-4 km in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, degrading to $5 km in the middle and upper stratosphere. The impact of various sources of systematic uncertainty has been quantified through a comprehensive set of retrieval simulations. In aggregate, systematic uncertainties are estimated to induce in the v2.2 HNO 3 measurements biases that vary with altitude between ±0.5 and ±2 ppbv and multiplicative errors of ±5-15% throughout the stratosphere, rising to $±30% at 215 hPa. Consistent with this uncertainty analysis, comparisons with correlative data sets show that relative to HNO 3 measurements from ground-based, balloon-borne, and satellite instruments operating in both the infrared and microwave regions of the spectrum, MLS v2.2 HNO 3 mixing ratios are uniformly low by 10-30% throughout most of the stratosphere. Comparisons with in situ measurements made from the DC-8 and WB-57 aircraft in the upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere indicate that the MLS HNO 3 values are low in this region as well, but are useful for scientific studies (with appropriate averaging).

[1] The Earth Observing System (EOS) Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) aboard the Aura satellite has provided daily global HCl profiles since August 2004. We provide a characterization of the resolution, random and systematic uncertainties, and known issues for the version 2.2 MLS HCl data. The MLS sampling allows for comparisons with many ($1500 to more than 3000) closely matched profiles from the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) and Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS). These data sets provide HCl latitudinal distributions that are, overall, very similar to those from (coincident) MLS profiles, although there are some discrepancies in the upper stratosphere between the MLS and HALOE gradients. As found in previous work, MLS and ACE HCl profiles agree very well (within $5%, on average), but the MLS HCl abundances are generally larger (by 10-20%) than HALOE HCl. The bias versus HALOE is unlikely to arise mostly from MLS, as a similar systematic bias (of order 15%) is not observed between average MLS and balloon-borne measurements of HCl, obtained over Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in 2004 and. At the largest pressure (147 hPa) for MLS HCl, a high bias ($0.2 ppbv) is apparent in analyses of low to midlatitude data versus in situ aircraft chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) HCl measurements from the Aura Validation Experiment (AVE) campaigns in 2004, 2005, and 2006; this bias is also observed in comparisons of MLS and aircraft HCl/O 3 correlations. Good agreement between MLS and CIMS HCl is obtained at 100 to 68 hPa. The recommended pressure range for MLS HCl is from 100 to 0.15 hPa.