SCIAMACHY-the need for atmospheric research from space

Abstract

The Earth's atmosphere is part of a complex system comprising the Sun and the Earth. Throughout the Earth's history this system responded to natural and anthropogenic phenomena. To assess the significance of changes induced by natural and anthropogenic activities, a detailed understanding of the physical and chemical processes controlling the composition of the global atmosphere is required. Space-based remote sensing instruments can contribute many of the required geophysical parameters on various spatial and temporal scales. The scientific goals of the imaging absorption spectrometer SCIAMACHY, flying on the European ENVISAT platform, are wide ranging and encompassing the need to improve our understanding of biogeochemical cycling and assess the impact of man on the Earth system. SCIAMACHY is an absorption spectrometer sensing simultaneously electromagnetic radiation in the range from the UV to SWIR. It observes the scattered and reflected spectral radiance in nadir and limb geometry, the spectral radiance transmitted through the atmosphere in solar and lunar occultation geometry and both the extraterrestrial solar irradiance and lunar radiance. Research using SCIAMACHY data includes the following topics: tropospheric ozone, air quality, the transport and transformation of pollution, global climate change, the exchange between the stratosphere and troposphere, stratospheric chemistry and dynamics, mesopheric and thermospheric composition, and solar variability. SCIAMACHY was proposed in the 1980s and is now part of the current fleet of atmospheric remote sensing missions. Due to its success, several missions with SCIAMACHY heritage will extend the important data sets far into the twenty-first century. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.