Cohort Level: Cohort - I

Career Goal: I have been offered a position at a naval research laboratory that will provide funding for me to get my Ph.D. in materials science.

Expected Graduation Date: May 12, 2019

Degree: B.S Mathematics

Research Title: Fine-Tuning Comparisons of Ozone Measurements Between SOUMI-NPP OMPS and Aura MLS

Research Synopsis: The impact that pressure in different atmospheric layers has on the production of chemical species known to hinder the formation of ozone has been studied extensively over the last several years. Relating the concentration of chemicals such as these to different atmospheric conditions could help reveal additional causes of ozone depletion. The Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and the Soumi National Polar-orbiting Partnership(NPP) Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS) missions have been working in tandem to provide quantitative data about chemicals that have been shown to have a significant impact on the state of the ozone layer of the earth’s atmosphere. The MLS instrument records daily information about the concentration of several chemical species including O 3 , H 2 O, HCl, and other species known to contribute to the decrease in ozone levels in the atmosphere, and the OMPS instrument makes global measurements of both profile and column atmospheric ozone on a daily basis. We use an IDL routine to combine vertical profiles of ozone from MLS and the OMPS Limb Profiler instruments and compare them at different pressures levels in the atmosphere. Using this code, the data was organized and general trends in the correlations were observed and graphics showing the individual data from both missions as well as their correlation were created. Preliminary results show a positive correlation between pressure and production of the aforementioned chemical species. In the future, the code will be optimized to ensure the accuracy of these results prior to attempt at publication. These optimizations will be focusing on characterizing a difference in altitude registration between the two instruments, specifically by examining plots of daily zonal mean comparisons. This work supports the NOAA Cooperative Science Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies (CESSRST) research Theme II, Atmospheric Hazards.