BackForwardInstrument:  UVAS 

Instrument details
Acronym UVAS
Full name Ultraviolet and Visible Atmospheric Sounder
Purpose Atmospheric chemistry - tracked species: BrO, HCHO, ClO, H2O, NO, NO2, O3, SO2 and aerosols
Short description UV/VIS grating spectrometer - Band: 290-490 nm, split into 290-390 and 390-490 nm. Spectral resolution presumably 0.4 nm
Background New development
Scanning Technique Whiskbroom scanning of a 85-km swath pointing 30° offset from the flight direction, addressable within a Field-of-Regard of 450 km on either sides
Resolution 10 km at the s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Global in 30 days or less, depending on the scanning strategy
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency CDTI
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: TBD
Last update: 2022-07-18
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
  • 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
  • BrO
  • ClO
  • H2O
  • HCHO
  • HCHO Total Column
  • NO
  • NO2
  • NO2 Total Column
  • O3
  • O3 Total Column
  • SO2
  • SO2 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.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Aerosol column burden2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (for absorbing aerosol) and VIS spectrometry
Aerosol effective radius2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (for absorbing aerosol) and VIS spectrometry
Aerosol mass mixing ratio2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (for absorbing aerosol) and VIS spectrometry
Aerosol Optical Depth2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (for absorbing aerosol) and VIS spectrometry
Aerosol type2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (for absorbing aerosol) and VIS spectrometry
BrO*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. BrO lines around 300 nm
HCHO*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. HCHO lines around 350 nm
HCHO Total Column*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. HCHO lines around 350 nm
ClO*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV Spectrometry. ClO lines around 300 nm
Cloud cover5 - marginalDaylight only.VIS spectroscopy
Cloud optical depth5 - marginalLow-density cloud only.. Daylight only.VIS spectrometry
H2O*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Several weak bands
NO*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. NO lines around 250 nm
NO2*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Several lines in the ranges around 220 nm and 400 nm
NO2 Total Column*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Several NO2 lines
O3*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Ozone lines in the bands around 260 nm (Hartley) and/or 340 nm (Huggins) and 600 nm (Chappuis)
O3 Total Column*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. 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 occurrence2 - very highCoarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry
SO2*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. SO2 lines around 350 nm
SO2 Total Column*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. SO2 lines around 350 nm
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA3 - highSpectral interpolation needed.. Information on BRDF needed.UV and VIS spectrometry
Upward spectral radiance at TOA5 - marginalMissing NIR, SWIR and all Long-waves.UV and VIS spectrometry
Aerosol volcanic ash2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (specifically sensitive to ash) and VIS spectrometry
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (specifically sensitive to ash) and VIS spectrometry