This paper will discuss an improved method for determination of vertical ozone distributions from spectral measurements of ultraviolet radiances diffusely reflected from the terrestrial atmosphere. A new inversion method previously presented has been improved, where the effects of multiple scattering and the lower boundary of the atmosphere (ground surface or cloud-top) are incorporated into the inversion procedure. Error bars on the retrieved ozone profiles are also taken into account. The improved inversion algorithm was tested using data of NIMBUS 4 backscattered ultraviolet (BUV) experiments. There is very good agreement between the vertical distributions from observations made from the satellite platform and those made from coincident rocket soundings. The results indicate that the vertical distributions of atmospheric ozone can be obtained by the improved method with high accuracy over a wide range of altitude.
For the future BUV satellite observation, the weighting function has been analyzed from some points of view, then an optimum selection of wavelengths is presented as a result of the weighting function analyses. Furthermore, the use of logarithmically defined parameter of ozone increment is recommended for expanding a dynamic range of the inversion.