Assessment of vertical ozone profiles from INSAT-3D sounder over the Central Himalaya

Vertical distribution of ozone has been obtained for the first time using INSAT-3D for the period 2013–2017 over the central Himalaya and validated utilizing balloon-borne observations from a high-altitude site in Nainital (29.4°N, 79.5°E, 1793 m amsl). The INSAT-3D retrieved ozone profiles captured ozone gradient and ozone peak altitude successfully, despite only one IR channel for ozone. This demonstrates the capability of the INSAT-3D Sounder in capturing the observed features, with a smaller bias in the stratosphere and somewhat larger bias in the troposphere. Total ozone column from INSAT-3D showed maximum difference of 8% with ozonesonde-derived total ozone column. Larger ozone bias in the lower troposphere could be attributed to lower reliability of regression coefficient and INSAT-3D channel constraints itself, whereas high variability near the tropopause is possibly due to low ozone, poor temperature retrieval near the tropo-pause and stratosphere-troposphere transport process in the Himalayan region.