WMO OSCAR | Details for Instrument BUV

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Instrument: BUV

Instrument details

Acronym	BUV
Full name	Backscatter Ultraviolet Spectrometer
Purpose	Vertical profile of ozone and other species. Also solar irradiance
Short description	UV spectro-radiometer. 12 discrete 1-nm bandwidth channels in the interval 250 to 340 nm
Background	Early UV instrument of a series that, after several up-datings, is still in use.
Scanning Technique	Nadir view only.
Resolution	220 km s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle	About 1650 measurements/day. Global coverage (170 km spacing) in 10 days, in daylight
Mass	14.5 kg	Power	7 W	Data Rate

Providing Agency	NASA
Instrument Maturity	Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period:	1970 to 1980
Last update:	2012-05-04

Detailed characteristics

Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Nimbus (NASA)
- Nimbus-4 (see instrument status) Jul 1970 - Sep 1980

Instrument classification

Earth observation instrument
Passive optical radiometer or spectrometer
Cross-nadir shortwave (UV/VIS) sounder

WIGOS Subcomponents

Subcomponent 1
UV/VIS/NIR sounders, nadir and limb
UV/VIS/NIR nadir sounder

Mission objectives

Primary mission objectives

O3
O3 Total Column

Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.

Variable	Relevance for measuring this variable	Operational limitations	Explanation
Aerosol column burden	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
Aerosol effective radius	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
Aerosol mass mixing ratio	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
Aerosol Optical Depth	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
Aerosol type	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
HCHO Total Column	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry. HCHO lines around 350 nm
NO2 Total Column	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry. Several NO2 lines
O3*	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry. Ozone lines in the bands around 260 nm (Hartley) and/or 340 nm (Huggins)
O3 Total Column*	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectroradiometer. Ozone lines in the bands around 260 nm (Hartley) and/or 340 nm (Huggins)
PSC occurrence	3 - high	Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry
SO2 Total Column	5 - marginal	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry. SO2 lines around 350 nm
Aerosol volcanic ash	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry, specifically sensitive to ash
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.	UV spectrometry, specifically sensitive to ash