ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-5-3071-2005 Detection and mapping of polar stratospheric clouds using limb scattering observations von Savigny C. 1 Ulasi E. P. 1 Eichmann K.-U. 1 Bovensmann H. 1 Burrows J. P. 1 Institute of Environmental Physics and Remote Sensing (IUP/IFE), University of Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, 28 334 Bremen, Germany 16 11 2005 5 11 3071 3079 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/5/3071/2005/acp-5-3071-2005.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/5/3071/2005/acp-5-3071-2005.pdf

Satellite-based measurements of Visible/NIR limb-scattered solar radiation are well suited for the detection and mapping of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). This publication describes a method to detect PCSs from limb scattering observations with the Scanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CartograpHY (SCIAMACHY) on the European Space Agency's Envisat spacecraft. The method is based on a color-index approach and requires a priori knowledge of the stratospheric background aerosol loading in order to avoid false PSC identifications by stratospheric background aerosol. The method is applied to a sample data set including the 2003 PSC season in the Southern Hemisphere. The PSCs are correlated with coincident UKMO model temperature data, and with very few exceptions, the detected PSCs occur at temperatures below 195–198 K. Monthly averaged PSC descent rates are about 1.5 km/month for the −50° S to −75° S latitude range and assume a maximum between August and September with a value of about 2.5 km/month. The main cause of the PSC descent is the slow descent of the lower stratospheric temperature minimum.