Now there are so many satellites which are helpful in monitoring the stratospheric environment and gases. Out of all those, which is best in terms of resolution and providing the details about the concentration of trace gases?
For the monitoring of trace gases, the best choices for accuracy are UV-Vis-NIR spectrometers using the DOAS technique (GOME, SCIAMACHY, OMI, GOME-2) or instruments like IASI, AIRS, MOPITT, that measure in the IR wavelength range. It really depends on what trace gas you're interested in and what the application is. The UV-Vis-NIR instruments measure O3, NO2, SO2, HCHO, CHOCHO, BrO, OClO, H2O, and probably some other species that I forgot here. SCIAMACHY used to measure CO, CO2 and CH4 as well. CO is also measured by MOPITT (which is probably a better choice for this trace gas), and there is a suite of other trace gases that are measured using the IR instruments.
Don't forget to check the sensitivity of the instruments before you use the data: IR measurements are much less sensitive to surface-near trace gases than UV-Vis measurements, and all satellite measurements face problems when clouds are in the field of view.
I don't work with IR data myself, but if you need any assistance (e.g. in the form of weblinks) with data from the mentioned UV-Vis instruments, I'll be glad to help.
By the way, the list of instruments is not complete, these were just the first ones that came to my mind!
Dear Marloes Penning,
Many thanks for your elaborate explanation. That really helps a lot. And I actually have selected GOME 2 sensor for working with. And I have level 1b data with me. How to obtain geophysical information from it. I have been reading about GDP(gome data processor) algorithm and DOAS method mentioned in their documents. And the level 1b data which I have obtained is in eps native format.
Can you please help me in starting with the processing those data sets to obtain the geophysical information.
Once again thanks for your answer .
It's not so easy to analyze satellite data - that's why there so many people involved in the process! Let me know which trace gases you're interested in and I will try to help you to obtain the L2 data.
Or do you really want to do the retrieval yourself?
If it is feasible enough, I would like to do the retrieval myself. Ozone is my primary interest and along with it I would like derive the No2 and So2 as well.
Thankyou.
If there is no DOAS expertise in your institute, I would strongly advise against doing the retrieval yourself. My statement that it's "not so easy to analyze satellite data" was a strong understatement. If you really want to continue down that path, find yourself a collaborator who can help you with the analysis, because there are so many difficult steps to take! Handling the data is one and DOAS analysis itself is another. Rather than re-inventing the wheel, I'd suggest you take the available L2 data, which have (in many cases) been extensively tested and validated.
Try this website for GOME-2 level 2 data: http://www.temis.nl/
Good luck!
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