Instrument | Status/ Accuracy | Instrument Description | Measurement Technology | Timeline |
ACE-FTS Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) Fourier Transform Spectrometer | Operational
| Measure and understand the chemical processes that control the distribution of ozone in the Earth's atmosphere, especially at high altitudes. | n/a | |
AIRS Atmospheric Infra-red Sounder | Operational
| High spectral resolution measurement of temperature and humidity profiles in the atmosphere. Long-wave Earth surface emissivity. Cloud diagnostics. Trace gas profiles. Surface temperatures. | n/a | |
MLS (EOS-Aura) Microwave Limb Sounder (EOS-Aura) | Operational
| Measures lower stratospheric temperature and concentration of H2O, O3, ClO, HCl, OH, HNO3, N2O and SO2. | n/a | |
MOPITT Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere | Operational
| Measurements of CO in the troposphere, running 24/7, 365d of the year. | High-resolution nadir-scanning SW spectrometer | |
SMR Submillimetre Radiometer | Operational
| Measures global distributions of ozone and species of importance for ozone chemistry ClO, HNO3, H2O, N2O, (HO2, H2O2). Measures temperature in the height range 15 - 100 km. | n/a | |
TANSO-FTS-2 Thermal And Near infrared Sensor for carbon Observation - Fourier Transform Spectrometer-2 | Operational
| CO2, CH4, and CO distribution. | High-resolution nadir-scanning IR spectrometer | |
UVNS (Sentinel-5 precursor) TROPOMI | Operational
| Supporting atmospheric composition and air quality monitoring services. | High-resolution nadir-scanning SW spectrometer | |
CWFMS Canadian Wildland Fire Monitoring Sensor | Being developed
| Measurements are: Fire Radiative Power (FRP), hotspot locations, rate of spread, burned area mapping. Data products generated: 1) Fire maps, showing location, extent, and timing of forest fire events; 2) Fire characteristics, such as fire line intensity, rate of spread and fuel consumption; 3) Plume dynamics through smoke transport maps and plume heights; 4) Mass of carbon released into atmosphere. | n/a | |
TANSO-3 Total Anthropogenic and Natural emissions mapping SpectrOmeter-3 | Being developed
| Global and regional concentration mapping of CO2, CH4, and NO2 for global monitoring of GHG concentrations, verification of emission inventories, and detection of emissions from large sources. | High-resolution nadir-scanning IR spectrometer | |
UVNS (Sentinel-5) Ultra-violet Visible Near-infrared Shortwave-infrared spectrometer | Being developed
| Supporting atmospheric composition and air quality monitoring services. Measurements of atmospheric trace gases, primarily O3, NO2, SO2, HCHO, CH4 and CO. | High-resolution nadir-scanning SW spectrometer | |
GHMS Geostationary HiMawari Sounder | Approved
| | n/a | |
UVN UV-VIS-NIR Sounder | Approved
| Measurements of atmospheric trace gases, mainly O3, NO2, SO2, H2CO. The product list is not yet approved, the accuracy summary column lists the breakthrough user requirements. | High-resolution nadir-scanning SW spectrometer | |
TGSP Trace Gas Spectrometer | Proposed
| Trace gas measurements. | n/a | |
TES Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer | No longer operational
| 3D profiles on a global scale of all infra-red active species from surface to lower stratosphere. Measures greenhouse gas concentrations, tropospheric ozone, acid rain precursors, gas exchange leading to stratospheric ozone depletion. | High-resolution nadir-scanning IR spectrometer | |