Recent results from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on EOS Aura

Abstract

The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) is first-of-its-kind hyperspectral instrument that employs two dimensional UV-enhanced CCD's to measure radiation backscattered by the Earth's atmosphere from 270-500 nm at high spectral resolution (0.45-0.63 nm), and with higher spatial resolution compared to the predecessor instruments (TOMS, SBUV, GOME, and SCIAMACHY). OMI is a Dutch-Finnish contribution to the NASA EOS Aura satellite, which was launched on 15 July 2004. The hyperspectral capability of OMI allows one to measure several trace gases in the boundary layer (NO2, SO2, HCHO, BrO) at urban scale resolution. In addition, OMI continues the 28-year record of data collected by the TOMS-series of instruments since Nov 1978, and SBUV-series of instruments since April 1970. These products include ozone profile, total column ozone, tropospheric column ozone, volcanic SO2, and daily global maps of UV-absorbing aerosols. In this paper we discuss recent results from OMI, focusing on OMI products related to air quality over the Asian-Pacific region. OMI has the unique capability of seeing transport of dust and smoke above clouds. Recent refinements to the algorithm are providing estimate of aerosol absorption, important for estimating the solar radiation reaching the ground.