Background stratospheric aerosol reference model

Nearly global SAGE I satellite observations in the nonvolcanic period from March 1979 to February 1980 are used to produce a reference background stratospheric aerosol optical model. Zonally average profiles of the 1.0-micron aerosol extinction for the tropics, midlatitudes, and high latitudes for both hemispheres are given in graphical and tabulated form for the different seasons. A third order polynomial fit to the vertical profile data set is used to derive analytic expressions for the seasonal global means and the yearly global mean. The results have application to the simulation of atmospheric radiative transfer and radiance calculations in atmospheric remote sensing.