On the inclusion of Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere version 6 ozone in a data assimilation system

Version 6 ozone profiles for 1978–1979 from the Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere experiment on the NIMBUS 7 satellite (or LIMS v6) are assimilated into an updated version of the GEOS‐5 model of NASA. First, an assimilation study is carried out using GEOS‐5 version 7.2 (v7.2) and solar backscatter ultraviolet (SBUV) version 8.6 ozone profiles. Then, a second study is conducted that ingests both the LIMS and SBUV ozone, as weighted by their estimated absolute error vectors. Ozone from this second study compares well with independent observations from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE I) and from the time series of ozonesonde data at Hohenpeissenberg and at Wallops Island. Assimilation of the LIMS data gives improved ozone distributions in the upper stratosphere (pressure