Temperature and pressure retrievals from the MAESTRO space instrument

MAESTRO (Measurement of Aerosol Extinction in the Stratosphere and Troposphere Retrieved by Occultation) is a photodiode array spectrometer that will make solar occultation measurements from the SCISAT-1 satellite. The instrument will produce vertical profiles of various constituents with the intent of increasing the understanding of the processes affecting the distribution of ozone in the middle atmosphere. Atmospheric temperature and pressure profiles are necessary for accurate retrievals of aerosols and molecular species. The absorption of solar radiation in the A and B bands of molecular oxygen will be used for retrievals of temperature and pressure on orbit. In support of this goal, the precursor instrument to MAESTRO was flown on August 29, 2000 as part of the main high-altitude balloon payload of the second MANTRA (Middle Atmosphere Nitrogen TRend Assessment) field campaign. Solar occultation measurements made during the balloon flight are being used to test retrieval algorithms for the MAESTRO instrument.