BackForwardInstrument:  TROPOMI 

Instrument details
Acronym TROPOMI
Full name Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument
Purpose Atmospheric chemistry. Tracked species: BrO, CH4, ClO, CO, CO2, H2O, HCHO, N2O, NO, NO2, NO3, O2, O3, O4, OClO, SO2 and aerosol
Short description Grating spectrometers covering 3 spectral bands in the range 270-2385 nm [see detailed characteristics below]
Background New development
Scanning Technique Pushbroom, swath 2600 km
Resolution 7 km at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage every day, in daylight
Mass 220 kg Power 170 W Data Rate 310 Mbps

 

Providing Agency ESA
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: 2018 to 2027
Last update: 2021-12-13
Detailed characteristics
Spectral ranges Number of channels Spectral resolution SNR @ expected input radiance
270-495 nm 1200 0.55 nm 1000
710-775 nm 600 0.55 nm 500
2305-2385 nm 800 0.25 nm 100
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Passive optical radiometer or spectrometer
  • Cross-nadir shortwave (UV/VIS) sounder
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • UV/VIS/NIR sounders, nadir and limb
  • UV/VIS/NIR nadir sounder
  • Subcomponent 2
  • NIR/SWIR imaging spectroscopy
  • NIR/SWIR imaging spectrometer
  • Subcomponent 3
  • NIR spectrometer
  • NIR spectrometer
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • BrO
  • CH4 mole fraction
  • CO
  • ClO
  • H2O
  • HCHO
  • HCHO Total Column
  • N2O mole fraction
  • NO
  • NO2
  • NO2 Total Column
  • O3
  • O3 Total Column
  • SO2
  • SO2 Total Column
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Aerosol column burden2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (for absorbing aerosol), VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol
Aerosol effective radius2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV, VIS, NIR (including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol) and SWIR spectrometry
Aerosol mass mixing ratio2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (for absorbing aerosol), VIS, NIR (including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol) and SWIR spectrometry
Aerosol Optical Depth2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol
Aerosol type2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (for absorbing aerosol), VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol
BrO*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. BrO lines around 300 nm
HCHO*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. HCHO lines around 350 nm
HCHO Total Column*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. HCHO lines around 350 nm
CH4 mole fraction*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.SWIR spectrometry. CH4 lines around 2.3 micrometers
ClO*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV Spectrometry. ClO lines around 300 nm
Cloud cover4 - fairDaylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectroscopy
Cloud drop effective radius4 - fairAt cloud top.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Cloud ice effective radius4 - fairAt cloud top.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Cloud optical depth2 - very highLow-density cloud only.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Cloud top height4 - fairDaylight only.NIR spectrometry to estimate the total-column O2 above the cloud top as measured around 760 nm
CO*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.SWIR spectrometry. CO lines around 2.3 micrometers
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
H2O*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Spectrometry in UV and VIS (several weak bands), and NIR and SWIR (strong bands around 940 nm and 1380 nm)
N2O mole fraction*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.SWIR spectrometry. N2O lines around 2.3 micrometers
NO*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. NO lines around 250 nm
NO2*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Several lines in the ranges around 220 nm and 400 nm
NO2 Total Column*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Several NO2 lines
O3*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Ozone lines in the bands around 260 nm (Hartley) and/or 340 nm (Huggins) and 600 nm (Chappuis)
O3 Total Column*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Ozone lines in the bands around 260 nm (Hartley) and/or 340 nm (Huggins) and 600 nm (Chappuis)
PSC occurrence2 - very highCoarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry
Short-wave cloud reflectance3 - highNo specific limitation.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry. Unsuitable dynamic range (saturation)
SO2*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. SO2 lines around 350 nm
SO2 Total Column*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. SO2 lines around 350 nm
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA3 - highInformation on BRDF needed.UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Upward spectral radiance at TOA4 - fairMissing all Long-waves.UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Aerosol volcanic ash2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (specifically sensitive to ash), VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level ash
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (specifically sensitive to ash), VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level ashl