Abstract
The vertical column abundance of NO2 is measured using direct sunlight. The solar spectra in the wavelength region of 430–450 nm observed from the earth’s surface are ratioed with a reference spectrum taken from the Kitt Peak Solar Flux Atlas. The large Fraunhofer features (20–40%) are eliminated by wavelength correction, resolution matching and ratioing of observed spectra to the reference. The retrieved values of the NO2 vertical column density are in a range of (2–15)x1016 molecules/cm2 with an accuracy of better than 3%. This result demonstrates the usefulness of the Kitt Peak Atlas in the study of tropospheric NO2 concentration, giving a standard extraterrestrial solar spectrum for the case in which the Langley method is not readily applicable.
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Niu, J.G., Sakurada, Y., Kuze, H. et al. Measurement of atmospheric NO2 column density with kitt peak solar flux atlas as a reference. Optical Review 4, 240 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02931689
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02931689