BackForwardInstrument:  OSIRIS 

Instrument details
Acronym OSIRIS
Full name Optical Spectrograph and Infra-Red Imaging System
Purpose Atmospheric chemistry.  Tracked species: ClO, NO, NO2, O3, OClO and aerosol
Short description UV/VIS/NIR spectrometer, spectral range 280-800 nm, spectral resolution 1 nm from 300-450 nm, < 2 nm from 450-800 nm. Supported by a NIR/SWIR radiometer with three channels (1.26 µm, 1.27 µm and 1.52 µm) of 10 nm bandwidth
Background New development
Scanning Technique Limb scanning
Resolution Vertical: 1 km, in the altitude range 5-100 km; horizontal effective resolution: ~ 300 km (limb geometry)
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage in 3 days for cells of 300 km side
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency SNSA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2001 to 2024
Last update: 2022-12-22
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

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Limb sounders
  • Limb sounder
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • UV/VIS/NIR sounders, nadir and limb
  • UV/VIS/NIR scanning limb sounder
  • Subcomponent 2
  • UV/VIS/NIR/IR/MW limb sounders
  • UV/VIS/NIR/IR occultation limb sounder
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • BrO
  • ClO
  • HCHO
  • NO
  • NO2
  • O3
  • SO2
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.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Aerosol mass mixing ratio5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV, VIS, NIR spectrometry
BrO*3 - highLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. BrO lines around 300 nm. Limb sounding mechanically or electronically
HCHO*3 - highLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. HCHO lines around 350 nm. Limb sounding mechanically or electronically
ClO*3 - highLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV Spectrometry. ClO lines around 300 nm.
NO*4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. NO lines around 250 nm.
NO2*4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Several lines in the ranges around 220 nm and 400 nm.
O3*4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Ozone lines in the bands around 260 nm (Hartley) and/or 340 nm (Huggins) and 600 nm (Chappuis).
PSC occurrence4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry.
SO2*4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. SO2 lines around 350 nm.
Specific humidity4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV, VIS and NIR spectrometry with several water vapour bands (main: around 940 nm).
Aerosol volcanic ash5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV, VIS and NIR spectrometry;
Atmospheric temperature4 - fairLimited to high atmosphere.. Daylight only.UV, VIS and NIR spectrometry at higher spectral resolution < 1.5 nm