Optical characterisation of three reference Dobsons in the ATMOZ Project – verification of G. M. B. Dobson's original specifications

Abstract

Abstract. Three reference Dobsons (regional standard Dobsons No. 064, Germany and No. 074, Czech Republic as well as the world standard No. 083, USA) were optically characterized at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig in 2015 and at the Czech Metrology Institute (CMI) in Prague in 2016 within the EMRP ENV 059 project “Traceability for atmospheric total column ozone”. Slit functions and the related parameters of the instruments were measured and compared with G. M. B. Dobson's specifications in his handbook. All Dobsons show a predominantly good match of the slit functions and the peak (centroid) wavelengths with deviations between −0.11 and +0.12 nm and differences of the full width half maximum (FWHM) between 0.13 and 0.37 nm compared to the nominal values at the shorter wavelengths. Slightly larger deviations of the FWHMs from the nominal Dobson data, up to 1.22 nm, can be seen at the longer wavelengths, especially for the slit function of the long D-wavelength. However, differences between the effective absorption coefficients (EACs) for ozone derived using Dobson's nominal values of the optical parameters on one hand and these measured values on the other hand are not too large in the case of both “old” Bass–Paur (BP) and “new” IUP-ozone (Institut für Umweltphysik, University of Bremen) absorption cross sections. Their inclusion in the calculation of the total ozone column (TOC) leads to improvements of significantly less than ±1 % at the AD-wavelengths between −1 and −2 % at the CD-wavelengths pairs in the BP-scale. The effect on the TOC in the IUP-scale is somewhat larger at the AD-wavelengths, up to +1 % (D074), and smaller at the CD-wavelengths pair, from −0.44 to −1.5 %. Beside this positive effect gained from the data with higher metrological quality that is needed for trend analyses and satellite validation, it will be also possible to explain uncommon behaviours of field Dobsons during calibration services, especially when a newly developed transportable device TuPS (tuneable portable radiation source) from CMI proves its capability to provide similar results as the stationary setups in the laboratories of National Metrology Institutes. Then, the field Dobsons can be optically characterized as well during regular calibration campaigns. A corresponding publication will be prepared using the results of TuPS-based measurements of more than 10 Dobsons in field campaigns in 2017.