Abstract
The Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) onboard the European Envisat spacecraft performs continuous spectral observations of reflected, scattered and transmitted sunlight in various observation geometries. A unique feature of SCIAMACHY is the capability of probing the atmosphere in three different observation geometries:The nadir, limb, and occultation measurement modes. In nadir mode, column densities of trace gases are retrieved with a spatial resolution of typically 30× 60 km using the Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) technique (Platt and Perner, 1983). Alternating with the nadir measurement, vertical profiles of absorber concentration in the stratosphere are derived in limb and occultation. In this paper we present an overview over some applications of SCIAMACHY data in space-based monitoring of atmospheric pollution. The DOAS algorithms for the retrieval of total column amounts from nadir spectra are briefly described and case studies of pollution events are presented. We also illustrate the technique used to derive stratospheric concentration profiles from limb observations and show comparisons with other remote sensing systems. Special emphasis will be given to techniques, which take advantage of SCIAMACHY's different viewing geometries. In particular, we will discuss the potential and limits of strategies to infer tropospheric abundances of O3and NO2.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boersma, K. F., Eskes, H. K. and Brinksma, E. J.: 2004, ‘Error analysis of NO2 retrieval from space’, J. Geophys. Res. 109, D04311, doi:10.1029/2003JD003962.
Bogumil, K., Orphal, J., Homann, T., Voigt, S., Spietz, P., Fleischmann, O. C., Vogel, A., Hartmann, M., Bovensmann, H., Frerick, J. and Burrows, J. P.: 2003, ‘Measurements of molecular absorption spectra with the SCIAMAHY pre-flight model: Instrument characterization and reference data for atmospheric remote-sensing in the 230–2380 nm region’, J. Photochem. Photobiol. A. 157, 167–184.
Bovensmann, H., Burrows, J. P., Buchwitz, M., Frerick, J., Noël, S., Rozanov, V. V., Chance, K. V. and Goede, A. P. G.: 1999, ‘SCIAMACHY: Mission objectives and measurement modes’, J. Atmos. Sci. 56, 127–150.
Burrows, J. P., et al.: 1999, ‘The global ozone monitoring experiment (GOME): Mission concept and first scientific results’, J. Atmos. Sci. 56, 151–175.
Flittner, D. E., Bhartia, P. K. and Herman, B. M.: 2000, ‘O3 profiles retrieved from limb scatter measurements: Theory’, Geophys. Res. Lett. 27, 2601–2064.
Kaiser, J. W.: 2001, Retrieval from Limb Measurements, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Bremen, Germany, 2001.
Kaiser, J. W. and Burrows, J. P.: 2003, ‘Fast weighting functions for retrievals from limb scattering measurements’, JQSRT 77, 273–283.
Leue, C., Wenig, M., Wagner, T., Klimm, O., Platt, U. and Jähne, B.: 2001, ‘Quantitative analysis of NOx emissions from global ozone monitoring experiment satellite image sequences’, J. Geophys. Res. 106, 5493–5505.
McPeters, R. D., Janz, S. J., Hilsenrath, E. and Brown, T. L.: 2000, ‘The retrieval of O3 profiles from limb scatter measurements: Results from the shuttle ozone limb sounding experiment’, Geophys. Res. Lett. 27, 2597–2600.
Platt, U. and Perner, D.: 1983, ‘Measurements of atmospheric trace gases by long path differential UV/visible absorption spectroscopy’, in: D. A. Killinger and A. Mooradien (eds), Optical and Laser Remote Sensing, Springer Verlag, New York pp. 95–105.
Richter, A. and Burrows, J. P.: 2002, ‘Tropospheric NO2 from GOME measurements’, Adv. Space Res. 29, 1673–1683.
Rozanov, A., Rozanov, V. and Burrows, J. P.: 2001, ‘Numerical RTM for a spherical planetary atmosphere: Combined differential-integral approach involving the Picard iterative approximation’, JQSRT 69, 513–534.
Rodgers, C. D.: 1990, ‘Characterization and error analysis of profiles retrieved from remote sounding measurements’, J. Geophys. Res. 95, 5587–5595.
Savigny, C., et al.: 2003, ‘Stratospheric ozone profiles retrieved from limb scattered sunlight radiance spectra measured by the OSIRIS instrument on the Odin satellite’, Geophys. Res. Lett. 30, doi:10.1029/2002GL016401.
Savigny, C. V., Rozanov, A., Bovensmann, H., Eichmann, K.-U., Noel, S., Rozanov, V. V., Sinnhuber, B.-M., Weber, M. and Burrows, J. P.: 2005, ‘The ozone hole break-up in September 2002 as seen by SCIAMACHY on Envisat’, J. Atmos. Sci. 62, 721–734.
Velders, G. J. M., Granier, C., Portmann, R. W., Pfeilsticker, K., Wenig, M., Wagner, T., Platt, U., Richter, A. and Burrows, J. P.: ‘Global tropospheric NO2 column distributions: Comparing three-dimensional model calculations with GOME measurements’, J. Gephys. Res. 106, 12643–12660.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sierk, B., Richter, A., Rozanov, A. et al. Retrieval And Monitoring of Atmospheric Trace Gas Concentrations in Nadir and Limb Geometry Using the Space-Borne Sciamachy Instrument. Environ Monit Assess 120, 65–77 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-005-9049-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-005-9049-9