GOMOS on Envisat: an overview Original Research Article

GOMOS (Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars) on board Envisat measures O3, NO2, NO3, neutral density, aerosols, H2O, and O2, in the stratosphere and mesosphere by detecting absorption of starlight in ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared wavelengths. During bright limb conditions GOMOS will also observe scattered solar radiation. GOMOS will deliver ozone concentration profiles at altitudes 15–100 km with a vertical sampling better than 1.7 km and with a global coverage. As a self-calibrating method stellar occultation measurements provide a basis for a long-term global monitoring of ozone profiles. We will present here the status of the GOMOS instrument and show samples of first results obtained in 2002.