Validation of MIPAS satellite measurements of HNO3 using comparison of rotational and vibrational spectroscopy

HNO3 profiles measured by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) instrument operating on the Envisat satellite are validated with balloon measurements. An agreement of +/-5% is obtained. The two measurements observe HNO3 features in different spectral regions (vibration spectra in the middle infrared and rotation spectra in the far infrared, respectively) and the agreement is obtained after that significant upgradings are made to the spectroscopic database. A stringent test of our understanding of HNO3 spectroscopy for remote sensing measurements is obtained.