MIPAS observations of Acetylene in the upper troposphere during July 2002. Note the enhancements over the Indian monsoon region caused by rapid vertical transport in the summer monsoon circulation.
The atmospheric composition group use a wide range of satellite remote sensing data to study atmospheric composition. These datasets include the pioneering Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS), the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on board METOP, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard Aqua and the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) onboard SCISAT-1.
We are particularly interested in improving knowledge of:
- Monitoring trace gases in the atmospheric using satellite instruments including ozone, water vapour and volatile organic compounds (including PAN, acetone, formic acid, acetylene)
- Atmospheric radiative transfer modelling
- Comparisons of satellite-derived atmospheric trace-gas distributions with models
- Atmospheric chemistry
- Cloud frequency and cloud properties
- Cirrus in the upper troposphere
- Polar stratospheric clouds in the polar atmosphere (15-30 km)
- Quantitative spectroscopic laboratory measurements for atmospheric remote sensing of trace gases
- Climate and Variability of Water Vapour in the Troposphere