Stratospheric CH₄, N₂O, H₂O, NO₂, N₂O₅, and ClONO₂ profiles retrieved from Cryogenic Infrared Radiance Instrumentation for Shuttle (CIRRIS 1A)/STS 39 measurements

Atmospheric infrared spectral measurements were made by the Cryogenic Infrared Radiance Instrumentation for Shuttle (CIRRIS 1A) during the Space Transportation System 39 (STS 39) mission (April 28 to May 6, 1991). High quality Earth limb emissions were collected by an interference filter bandwidth limited cryogenic Michelson interferometer. Volume mixing ratios (VMRs) of the various gases were retrieved using an onion‐peeling technique with the Fast Atmospheric Signature Code 3 and the HITRAN92 database as a forward model and predetermined temperature‐pressure profiles from the National Meteorological Center as the auxiliary parameters. The high quality of the moderate‐resolution (∼1.0 cm −1 ) CIRRIS 1A (C‐1A) interferometer data and the accuracy of the forward model allowed VMR profiles of the prominent atmospheric gases (e.g., CFC‐11, CFC‐12, HNO 3 , O 3 , CH 4 , N 2 O, H 2 O, NO 2 , N 2 O 5 , and ClONO 2 ) to be retrieved simultaneously through the stratosphere. Profiles were recorded near the northern arctic region (daytime) and in the southern midlatitude region (nighttime). VMR profiles from C‐1A measurements reported in this paper are compared with measurements collected by other investigators. While only a few atmospheric profiles are available from the C‐1A data set, the values are significant, as they are the last atmospheric profiles of these strategically important gases collected before the Mount Pinatubo eruption of June 12–15, 1991.