Characterization of blackbody inhomogeneity and its effect on the retrieval results of the GLORIA instrument

Abstract. Limb sounding instruments play an important role in the monitoring of climate trends, as they provide a good vertical resolution. Traceability to the International System of Units (SI) via onboard reference or transfer standards is needed to compare trend estimates from multiple instruments. This study investigates the required uncertainty of these radiation standards to properly resolve decadal trends of climate-relevant trace species like ozone, water vapor, and temperature distribution for the Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere (GLORIA). Temperature nonuniformities of the onboard reference blackbodies, used for radiometric calibration, have an impact on the calibration uncertainty. The propagation of these nonuniformities through the retrieval is analyzed. A threshold for the maximum tolerable uncertainty of the blackbody temperature is derived, so that climate trends can be significantly identified with GLORIA.