mission

• SCIAMACHY mission objectives in the context of current and future issues in atmospheric chemistry
• Tropospheric chemistry : oxidizing capacity of the troposphere, tropospheric photochemical ozone production and destruction, tropospheric pollution, biomass burning, industrial pollution, emissions from transportation (cars, aircraft, ships). Characterization of the active photochemical environment in the troposphere. SCIAMACHY measures tropospheric columns of O3, CO, CH4, N2O, NO2, SO2, HCHO, H2O and the backscattered radiation field from 240 nm to 2380 nm (down to cloud top).
• Stratosphere-troposphere exchange : downward transport of stratospheric ozone, upward transport of the precursor molecules (e.g. H2O, N2O etc.) originating from the planetary boundary layer provides the feedstock for ozone-destroying HOx, NOx and ClOx radicals. SCIAMACHY measures height resolved profiles of the following tracers: O3, H2O, N2O and CH4.
• Stratospheric chemistry and dynamics : monitoring of stratospheric ozone depletion over Arctica and Antarctica, monitoring of the stratospheric halogen amount: The maximum stratospheric halogen amount is expected around the turn of the century (WMO 95), Ggobal ozone budget, especially at midlatitudes
• Test of photochemical modelling and model prediction: SCIAMACHY measures stratospheric profiles of O3, H2O, CH4, N2O, BrO and temperature fields, and OClO under "ozone hole" conditions and the backscattered radiation field, aerosol and cloud information.
• Mesospheric chemistry and dynamics: distribution of H2O and O3 and global circulation, ozone destruction due to mesospheric and stratospheric NO, SCIAMACHY measures profiles of O3, H2O, N2O, NO, O2 and O2(1Dg) in the mesosphere .
• Climate : monitoring of "greenhouse" gases (e.g. O3, H2O, CO2, CH4, N2O, CFC's.), monitoring of the radiation balance in the UV-NIR with high accuracy (incl. cloud and aerosol information), SCIAMACHY measures the "greenhouse" gases O3, H2O, CH4, N2O, aerosol and cloud data, surface spectral reflectance (320 nm - 2380 nm), the incoming and outgoing SW flux, profiles of pressure and temperature (via O2 and CO2).