Proposed Reference Models for Nitrous Oxide and Methane in the Middle Atmosphere

Abstract Data from the Stratospheric and Mesospheric Sounder (SAMS) on the Nimbus 7 satellite, for the three years from January 1979–December 1981, are used to prepare a reference model for the long-lived trace gases methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) in the stratosphere. The model is presented in tabular form on seventeen pressure surfaces from 20 to 0.1 mb, in 10° latitude bins from 50S to 70N, and for each month of the year. The means by which the data quality and interannual variability, and some of the more interesting globally and seasonally variable features of the data are discussed briefly.