BackInstrument:  SAGE-I 

Instrument details
Acronym SAGE-I
Full name Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment - I
Purpose Observation of stratospheric H2O, NO2, O3 and aerosol
Short description
  • The sensor scanned the atmosphere from the horizon up, and measured the attenuation of solar radiation at different atmospheric layers as the S/C emerged from the Earth's shadow. This was repeated at sunset.
  • Two vertical profiles were obtained during each orbit, with each scan requiring approximately 1 minute to cover the atmosphere above the troposphere.
  • Measured attenuation of solar radiation at four wavelengths centered at 0.385, 0.45, 0.6, and 1.0 µm during solar occultation.
Background

New development
Scanning Technique

Sun occultation
Resolution FOV was about 0.15 mrad
Coverage / Cycle N/A (few tens of events/day limited to latitudes ~ 74°)
Mass 18 kg Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency NASA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 1979 to 1981
Last update: 2026-04-27
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 2
  • UV/VIS/NIR/IR/MW limb sounders
  • UV/VIS/NIR/IR occultation limb sounder
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Aerosol mass mixing ratio
  • H2O
  • NO2
  • O3
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.