A TECHNIQUE FOR QUANTITATIVE REMOTE SENSING OF OZONE

ALTHOUGH OZONE IS A MIRROR CONSTITUENT OF THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE, IT PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN DETERMINING THE CLIMATEOF OUR PLANET. ABSORPTION OF BIOLOGICALLY HARMFUL RADIATION BY OZONE IS ALSO NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN THE VIABILITY OF LIFE ON EARTH. THE ABILITY TO ACCURATELY MEASURE THE AMOUNT OF OZONE IN THE STRATOSPHERE IS A PRESSING NATIONAL NEED SINCE THERE ARE SERIOUS CONCERNS THAT MODERN INDUSTRIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESSES MAY BE DEPLETEING THE EARTH'S OZONE LAYER. THE EXISTING NETWORK OF OZONE MONITORING STATIONS SUFFERS FROM CALIBRATION DIFFICULTIES AND A POOR ABILITY TO MEASURE OZONE ABOVE 35 KM. WE PROPOSE HERETO DEVELOP A FROUND-BASED OZONE MONITORING SYSTEM CAPABLE OF HIGHLY ACCURATE, ABSOLUTE DETERMINATION OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF OZONE WITHIN THE STRATOSPHERE. THE FRACTIONAL DEPLETION OF OZONE DUE TO ATTACK BY CHLORINE IS PREDICTED TO BE GREATEST (ROUGHLY THREE TIMES THE AVERAGE) IN THE ALTITUDE RANGE ABOVE 35 KM, JUST WHERE THE PROPOSED MILLIMETER SYSTEM IS MOST SENSITIVE.IN PHASE I, WE WILL PERFORM RESEARCH TO DETERMINE THE ALTITUDE RESOLUTION AND ABSOLUTE ACCURACY OBTAINABLE FROM GROUND BASED, MILLIMETER WAVE OZONE MEASUREMENTS. THIS WILL INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF A PROGRAM TO OBTAIN THE ALTITUDE DISTRIBUTION BYINVERTING THE SPECTRAL LINE, ANALYSIS OF CALIBRATION ACCURACY OBTAINABLE, AND OF THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE DETECTOR SYSTEM. IN PHASE II, WE WOULD DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT A COMPLETE MILLIMETER WAVE OZONE MEASURING INSTRUMENT. THE DESIGN WILL BE BASED ON THAT OF A PROVEN RESEARCH INSTRUMENT USED TO MEASURE STRATOSPHERIC TRACE CONSTITUENTS.