Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere (GLORIA) scientific objectives

The upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS) plays a crucial role in the climate system. Changes in the composition and dynamic structure of this atmospheric region result in particularly large changes in the atmospheric radiation balance. Quantifying the physical and chemical processes that control UTLS composition therefore represents an important task. Currently, there is a lack of UTLS observations with sufficient three-dimensional resolution. The Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere (GLORIA) aircraft instrument addresses this observational lack by providing observations of numerous trace constituents as well as temperature and cloud structures with an unprecedented combination of vertical resolution (up to 300 m) and horizontal resolution (up to 20 km × 20 km). As a result, important scientific questions concerning stratosphere–troposphere-exchange, the occurrence of subvisible cirrus clouds in the lowermost stratosphere (LMS), polar chemistry and gravity wave processes can be addressed, as reviewed in this paper