Stratospheric Water Vapor Beyond NASA's Aura MLS: Assimilating SAGE III/ISS Profiles for a Continued Climate Record

Abstract Stratospheric water vapor (SWV) is a greenhouse gas that has an important, yet uncertain, impact on the Earth's climate through its radiative effect and feedback. As the climate changes, it is thus critical to monitor and understand changes in SWV. NASA's Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) aboard the Aura satellite has observed SWV since 2004 but is reaching end of life. The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) missions observe SWV as well, with the SAGE III instrument operating on the International Space Station (ISS) since 2017. We use the constituent data assimilation capabilities of NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) to demonstrate that the up to 30 SAGE III/ISS profiles each day provide a useful constraint over the observed midlatitudes and tropics. We conclude that by assimilating SAGE III/ISS SWV into GEOS we can largely continue to monitor SWV after Aura MLS.