Daily Image
19-04-2012
Today's colloquium: TROPOMI: The latest Dutch satellite instrument for Earth observation
| Submitter: | Colloquium |
| Description: | The Netherlands has a strong reputation is designing, building and using instruments that observe the Earth atmosphere from a low Earth orbit of about 800 km altitude. This started with the Global Ozone Measuring Experiment (GOME) in the late eighties, Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (Sciamachy) in the nineties, Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) around 2000. All instruments have in common that they detect the spectrum of the reflected sun light. As this light has traveled through the atmosphere it contains the spectral absorption features of many trace gases. From these absorption the total column of gas is derived and from some even information on the vertical distribution of gases. The Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) is the culmination of the earlier instruments as it combines the best properties of all. TROPOMI will observe the spectrum from UV (270 nm) up to 2400 nm is several bands. It will measure the main tropospheric pollutants (O3, NO2, CO, formaldehyde (HCHO) and SO2) and two major greenhouse gases (tropospheric O3 and methane (CH4)). SRON is in particular interested in the Short Wave Infrad Red (SWIR) channel where methane and and CO are measured with. SRON is Principal Investigator for the science of this channel. SRON and TNO develop special silicon‑based immersed gratings that allows for a SWIR spectrometer volume reduction of a factor of 40. And SRON develops the read‑out electronics for the SWIR detector array. All facets of the mission, the instrument, the science and the SRON contributions will be presented at the colloquium. |
| Copyright: | R.W.M. Hoogeveen |
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