WMO OSCAR | Details for Instrument SBUV/2

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Instrument: SBUV/2

Instrument details

Acronym	SBUV/2
Full name	Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet / 2
Purpose	Vertical profile of ozone and other species. Solar irradiance
Short description	UV spectro-radiometer. Either 12 discrete 1-nm bandwidth channels selectable in the interval 252 to 340 nm, or continuous sweep from 160 to 340 nm.
Background	Follow-on of SBUV flown on Nimbus-7. Flown on NOAA 9 to 19 except 12 and 15
Scanning Technique	Nadir view only
Resolution	170 km
Coverage / Cycle	About 1650 measurements/day. Global coverage (170 km spacing) in 10 days, in daylight
Mass	40 kg	Power	17 W	Data Rate	320 bps

Providing Agency	NOAA
Instrument Maturity	Flown on operational programme
Utilization Period:	1985 to 2025
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

NOAA 4th generation / Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (NOAA)
- NOAA-9 (see instrument status) Mar 1985 - Feb 1998
- NOAA-10 (see instrument status) Dec 1986 - Aug 2001
- NOAA-11 (see instrument status) Nov 1988 - Jun 2004
- NOAA-13 (see instrument status) Aug 1993 - Aug 1993
- NOAA-14 (see instrument status) Apr 1995 - May 2007
NOAA 5th generation / Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (NOAA)
- NOAA-16 (see instrument status) Mar 2001 - Jun 2014
- NOAA-17 (see instrument status) Oct 2002 - Apr 2013
- NOAA-18 (see instrument status) Aug 2005 - Dec 2012
- NOAA-19 (see instrument status) May 2009 - Sep 2025

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