Performances of MIPAS/ENVISAT Level 2 inversion algorithm with data measured by the balloon instrument MIPAS-B

An Optimised Retrieval Model (ORM) was developed in the framework of an ESA-supported study for the near real-time Level 2 data analysis of the MIPAS/ENVISAT instrument. The algorithm implemented in the ORM had already been validated with internal consistency tests. In preparation of the ENVISAT launch, a further validation of the ORM with real data has been performed. A balloon measurement campaign using a spectrometer (MIPAS-B) with features very similar to the ones of the satellite instrument was carried-out in 1998. The data provided by this campaign were analysed using a modified version of the ORM code. The results of this analysis and a comparison with the analysis made with a different retrieval scheme is presented in this paper.