BackForwardInstrument:  SAGE-III 

Instrument details
Acronym SAGE-III
Full name Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment - III
Purpose Atmospheric chemistry in the stratosphere. Species: H2O, NO2, NO3, O3, OClO and aerosol
Short description UV/VIS/NIR/SWIR (290-1550 nm) 9-band solar and lunar occultation grating spectrometer. Spectral resolution from 1 to 2 nm
Background Follow-on of SAGE-II flown on ERBS
Scanning Technique Sun and moon tracking during the occultation phase, 1-km step from ~ 10 to ~ 85 km
Resolution 300 km (horizontal), 1-2 km (vertical)
Coverage / Cycle N/A (few tens of events/day limited to latitudes above ~ 70° (Meteor-3M) or around 50° (ISS)
Mass 76 kg Power 80 W Data Rate 115 kbps

 

Providing Agency NASA
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: 2002 to 2006-04-05
Last update: 2021-06-17
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
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • BrO
  • ClO
  • H2O
  • HCHO
  • NO
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Tentative 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
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Aerosol mass mixing ratio5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV, NIR, SWIR limb sounding by solar occultation. Self-calibrating
Atmospheric temperature5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV, VIS, NIR, SWIR limb sounding by solar occultation. Self-calibrating
BrO5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. BrO lines around 300 nm. Limb sounding by solar occultation.. Self-calibrating
HCHO5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. HCHO lines around 350 nm Limb sounding by solar occultation. Self-calibrating
ClO5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. ClO lines around 300 nm. Limb sounding by solar occultation. Self-calibrating
H2O5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.Spectrometry in UV and VIS (weak bands), and NIR and SWIR (strong bands around 940 and 1380 nm). Limb sounding by solar occultation. Self-calibrating
NO5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. NO lines around 250 nm. Limb sounding by solar occultation. Self-calibrating
NO25 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Several lines in the ranges around 220 nm and 400 nm. Limb sounding by solar occultation. Self-calibrating
O35 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Ozone lines in the bands around 260 nm (Hartley) and/or 340 nm (Huggins) and 600 nm (Chappuis). Limb sounding by solar occultation. Self-calibrating
PSC occurrence5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Limb sounding by solar occultation. Self-calibrating
SO25 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. SO2 lines around 350 nm. Limb sounding by solar occultation. Self-calibrating
Specific humidity5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry with several water vapour bands (main: around 940 and 1380 nm nm). Limb sounding by solar occultation, Self-calibrating
Aerosol volcanic ash5 - marginalLimited to high atmosphere.. Limited to high latitudes.. Daylight only.UV, NIR and SWIR spectrometry; limb sounding by solar occultation. Self-calibrating