Validation of MIPAS-Envisat by correlative measurements of MIPAS-STR

We report on the validation of profiles from the MIPAS-Envisat on-line processor of ESA version 4.61 with correlative measurements derived from MIPAS-STR onboard the high-altitude aircraft M55-Geophysica. The validation is made for the July 22, 2002, orbit 2051 in the region of the campaign base in Forli, Italy and for several orbits in February / March 2003 around Kiruna, northern Sweden. This paper includes a careful comparison of the MIPAS-STR data with O3 sondes and with in-situ measurements from the Geophysica obtained during ascent, descent and occasional dives. To obtain accurate N2O and CH4 profiles close to the MIPAS-Envisat tangent points we used the MIPAS-STR measurements of CFC-11 and CFC-12 and correlations obtained by the HAGAR instrument.