SCIAMACHY
SCIAMACHY(SCanning Imaging Absorption SpectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY; Greek: σκιάμάχη: analogously: "Fighting shadows" ) was one of ten instruments aboard ofESA's ENVIronmental SATellite,ENVISAT.It was a satellitespectrometerdesigned to measuresunlight,transmitted,reflectedandscatteredby theEarth's atmosphereorsurfacein theultraviolet,visibleandnear infraredwavelengthregion (240nm- 2380 nm) at moderate spectral resolution (0.2 nm - 1.5 nm).[1]SCIAMACHY was built by Netherlands and Germany atTNO/TPD,SRONandDutch Space.[2]
Launch and termination
[edit]SCIAMACHY, aboard the ENVISAT satellite, was launched by ESA (European Space Agency) fromKourou,French Guiana,in March 2002. ENVISAT's mission was ended in May 2012, after loss of contact one month earlier.
Operation
[edit]Theabsorption,reflection and scattering characteristics of the atmosphere were determined by measuring the extraterrestrialsolar irradianceand the upwelling radiance observed in different viewing geometries. The ratio of extraterrestrial irradiance and the upwelling radiance can be inverted to provide information about the amounts and distribution of important atmospheric constituents, which absorb or scatter light, and the spectral reflectance (oralbedo) of the Earth's surface.
Purpose
[edit]SCIAMACHY was conceived to improve global knowledge and understanding of a variety of issues of importance for thechemistryandphysicsof the Earth's atmosphere (troposphere,stratosphereandmesosphere) and potential changes resulting from eitheranthropogenicbehavior ornatural phenomena.
References
[edit]- ^Bovensmann, H.;Burrows, J. P.;Buchwitz, M.; Frerick, J.; Noël, S.; Rozanov, V. V.; Chance, K. V.; Goede, A. P. H. (1999). "SCIAMACHY: Mission Objectives and Measurement Modes".Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.56(2): 127–150.Bibcode:1999JAtS...56..127B.CiteSeerX10.1.1.517.1324.doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1999)056<0127:SMOAMM>2.0.CO;2.
- ^"I - Sciamachy".