Abstract.We have studied data from two satellite occultation instruments in order to generate a high vertical resolution homogeneous ozone time series of 26 yr. The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II solar occultation instrument and the Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars (GOMOS) instrument measured ozone profiles in the stratosphere and mesosphere from 1984-2005 and 2002-2012, respectively. Global coverage, good vertical resolution, and the self-calibrating measurement method make data from these instruments valuable for the detection of changes in vertical distribution of ozone over time. As both instruments share a common measurement period from 2002-2005, it is possible to inter-calibrate the data sets. We investigate how well these measurements agree with each other and combine all the data to produce a new stratospheric ozone profile data set. Above 55 km, SAGE II measurements show much less ozone than the GOMOS nighttime measurements as a consequence of the well-known diurnal variation of ozone in the mesosphere. Between 35-55 km, SAGE II sunrise and sunset measurements differ from GOMOS' measurements to different extents. Sunrise measurements show 2 % less ozone than GOMOS, whereas sunset measurements show 4 % more ozone than GOMOS. Differences can be explained qualitatively by the diurnal variation of ozone in the stratosphere recently observed by SMILES and modeled by chemical transport models. Between 25-35 km, SAGE II sunrise and sunset measurements and GOMOS measurements agree within 1 %.The observed ozone bias between collocated measurements of SAGE II sunrise/sunset and GOMOS night measurements is used to align the two data sets. The combined data set covers the time period 1984-2011, latitudes 60 • S-60 • N, and the altitude range of 20-60 km. Profile data are given on a 1 km vertical grid, and with a resolution of 1 month in time and 10 • in latitude. The combined ozone data set is analyzed by fitting a time series model to the data. We assume a linear trend with an inflection point (so-called "hockey stick" form). The best estimate for the point of inflection was found to be the year 1997 for ozone between altitudes 35 and 45 km. At all latitudes and altitudes from 35 to 50 km we find a clear change in ozone trend before and after the inflection time. From 38 to 45 km, a negative trend of 4 % per decade (statistically significant at 95 % level) at the equator has changed to a small positive trend of 0-2 % per decade. At mid-latitudes, the negative trend of 4-8 % per decade has changed to to a small positive trend of 0-2 % per decade. At mid-latitudes near 20 km, the ozone loss has still increased whereas in the tropics a recovery is ongoing.

Observations from the SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) instrument on the TIMED (Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics) satellite show interannual variations of mesospheric ozone in the NH late winter. Ozone in the mid‐January to mid‐March period is significantly different in 2004, 2006, and 2009 than in other years (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008). The altitudes of the ozone secondary maximum (∼90–95 km), the minimum (∼80 km) and the tertiary maximum (∼72 km) are all lower by 3–5 km during the three anomalous winters. The ozone anomalies indicate enhanced downward motion and are consistent with other observations of unusual profiles of trace species. The ozone perturbations extend to at least 100 km while temperatures above 90 km are within the range found in the other years.

We introduce an inversion method that uses dimension reduction for the retrieval of atmospheric methane (CH4) profiles. Uncertainty analysis is performed using the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) statistical estimation. These techniques are used to retrieve CH4 profiles from the ground‐based spectral measurements by the Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) instrument at Sodankylä (67.4°N, 26.6°E), Northern Finland. The Sodankylä FTS is part of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), a global network that observes solar spectra in near‐infrared wavelengths. The high spectral resolution of the data provides approximately 3 degrees of freedom about the vertical structure of CH4 between around 0 and 40 km. We reduce the dimension of the inverse problem by using principal component analysis. Smooth and realistic profiles are sought by estimating three parameters for the profile shape. We use Bayesian framework with adaptive MCMC to better characterize the full posterior distribution of the solution and uncertainties related to the retrieval. The retrieved profiles are validated against in situ AirCore soundings which provide an accurate reference up to 20–30 km. The method is presented in a general form, so that it can easily be adapted for other applications, such as different trace gases or satellite‐borne measurements where more accurate profile information and better analysis of the uncertainties would be highly valuable.

This paper shows the results of the comparison of satellite SO 2 observations from OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) and OMPS (Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite) with ground-based measurements during the Icelandic Holuhraun fissure eruption in September 2014. The volcanic plume reached Finland on several days during the month of September. The SO 2 total columns from the Brewer direct sun (DS) measurements in Sodankylä (67.42 • N, 26.59 • E), northern Finland, are compared to the satellite data.The operational satellite SO 2 products are evaluated for high latitude conditions (e.g. large solar zenith angle, SZA). The results show that the best agreement can be found for lowest SZAs, close-to-nadir satellite pixels, cloud fraction below 0.3 and small distance between the station and the centre of the pixel. Under good retrieval conditions, the difference between satellite data and Brewer measurements remains mostly below the uncertainty on the satellite SO 2 retrievals (up to about 2 DU at high latitudes).The satellite products assuming a priori profile with SO 2 predominantly in the planetary boundary layer give total column values with the best agreement with the ground-based data.The analysis of the SO 2 surface concentrations at four air quality stations in northern Finland shows that the volcanic plume coming from Iceland was located very close to the surface. This is connected to the fact that this was a fissure eruption and most of the SO 2 was emitted into the troposphere. This is an exceptional case because the SO 2 volcanic emissions directly affect the air quality levels at surface in an otherwise pristine environment like northern Finland. The time evolution of the SO 2 concentrations peaks during the same days when large SO 2 total column values are measured by the Brewer in Sodankylä and enhanced SO 2 signal is visible over northern Finland from the satellite maps. Thus, the satellite retrievals were able to detect the spatiotemporal evolution of the volcanic plume as compared to the surface observations.Furthermore, direct-broadcast SO 2 satellite data (from both OMI and OMPS instruments) are compared for the first time against ground-based observations.

We have studied data from two satellite occultation instruments in order to generate a high vertical resolution homogeneous ozone time series of 26 yr. The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experimen (SAGE) II solar occultation instrument from 1984–2005 and the Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars instrument (GOMOS) from 2002–2012 measured ozone profiles in the stratosphere and mesosphere. Global coverage, good vertical resolution and the self calibrating measurement method make data from these instruments valuable for the detection of changes in vertical distribution of ozone over time. As both instruments share a common measurement period from 2002–2005, it is possible to intercalibrate the data sets. We investigate how well these measurements agree with each other and combine all the data to produce a new stratospheric ozone profile data set. Above 55 km SAGE II measurements show much less ozone than the GOMOS nighttime measurements as a consequence of the well-known diurnal variation of ozone in the mesosphere. Between 35–55 km SAGE II sunrise and sunset measurements differ from each other. Sunrise measurements show 2% less ozone than GOMOS whereas sunset measurements show 4% more ozone than GOMOS. Differences can be explained qualitatively by the diurnal variation of ozone in the stratosphere recently observed by SMILES and modelled by chemical transport models. For 25–35 km SAGE II sunrise and sunset and GOMOS agree within 1%.

The observed ozone bias between collocated measurements of SAGE II sunrise/sunset and GOMOS night measurements is used to align the two data sets. The combined data set covers the time period 1984–2011, latitudes 60° S–60° N and the altitude range of 20–60 km. Profile data are given on a 1 km vertical grid, and with a resolution of one month in time and ten degrees in latitude. The combined ozone data set is analyzed by fitting a time series model to the data. We assume a linear trend with an inflexion point (so-called "hockey stick" form). The best estimate for the point of inflexion was found to be the year 1997 for ozone between altitudes 35 and 45 km. At all latitudes and altitudes from 25 km to 50 km we find a clear change in ozone trend before and after the inflexion time. From 38 km to 45 km a negative trend of 0–3% per decade at the equator has changed to a small positive trend of 0–2% per decade except in the altitude range of 30–35 km where the ozone loss has even increased. At mid-latitudes the negative trend of 4–10% per decade has changed to to a small positive trend of 0–2% per decade