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17 years of monitoring the atmosphere with the ACE-FTS satellite instrument

Launched in 2003 for a 2-year mission, the ACE-FTS (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment – Fourier Transform Spectrometer) instrument on the Canadian SciSat satellite has been observing the Earth’s atmosphere for the past 17 years and is still going strong.

With a primary focus on atmospheric ozone chemistry, ACE-FTS measures profiles of ozone and ozone related substances (e.g., CFCs, HCFCs, NO y ), but also measures greenhouse gases (e.g., CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O), biomass burning species (e.g., CO, C 2 H 6 , HCN), isotopologues of multiple species (e.g., H 2 O, CO 2 , O 3 ), and so much more! This talk will discuss the ACE-FTS instrumentation and retrieval algorithm and will highlight two of the recent discoveries that were made using ACE-FTS observations—the confirmation of an upper atmospheric N2O source and global enhancements of HCN due to Indonesian biomass burning.

Audio Recording Audio Recording
Dr. Patrick E. Sheese
17 years of monitoring the atmosphere with the ACE-FTS satellite instrument