CEOS EO HANDBOOK – INSTRUMENT SUMMARY - Spectrometer (TEMPO) -
Full Name Spectrometer (TEMPO) Status Being developed
Instrument Agencies NASA Maturity
Instrument Type Atmospheric chemistry Geometry Push-broom scanning
Instrument Technology High-resolution nadir-scanning SW spectrometer Sampling Imaging
Data Access Open Access Data Format HDF-5, NetCDF
Measurements and Applications Hourly measurements of air pollution over North America, from Mexico City to the Canadian oil sands, at high spatial resolution. Measurements in ultraviolet and visible wavelengths will provide a suite of products including the key elements of tropospheric air pollution chemistry. Will be part of the first global geostationary constellation for pollution monitoring, along with European and Korean missions now in development.
Resolution Summary 2.22 km by 5.15 km at at geodetic location 36.5° N, 100° W
[Best Resolution: 5150m]
Swath Summary From 18 degrees N to 58 degrees N
[Max Swath: 4200 km]
Accuracy Summary Precisions include tropospheric O3 to 10 ppbv in 1 hour, tropospheric NO2 to 1e15 molecules cm-2 in 1 hour, and tropospheric H2CO to 1e16 molecules cm-2 in 3 hours, all geo-located to an accuracy of 4 km.
Waveband Summary 290 to 750 nm (TBC)
UV (~0.01 µm - ~0.40 µm)
VIS (~0.40 µm - ~0.75 µm)
Instrument Measurements
Measurements Overview
CategoryParameter
OzoneO3 Mole Fraction
Trace gases (excluding ozone)NO2 Mole Fraction
HCHO Mole Fraction
Thematic Links Global Climate Observing System Essential Climate Variables (GCOS ECVs)
ECVDescriptionProduct(s)ECV Inventory 3.0 Record(s)
Ozone click here click here search ECV Inventory records
Instrument Missions
TEMPO - Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (2023 - 2025)