Science Requirements Document for OMI-EOS, RS-OMIE-KNMI-001

A Dutch-Finnish scientific and industrial consortium is supplying the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) for EOS-Aura. EOS-Aura is the next NASA mission to study the Earth’s atmosphere extensively, and successor to the highly successful UARS (Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite) mission. The “Science Requirements Document for OMI-EOS” presents an overview of the Aura and OMI mission objectives. It describes how OMI fits into the Aura mission and it reviews the synergy with the other instruments onboard Aura to fulfil the mission. This evolves in the Scientific Requirements for OMI (Chapter 3), stating which trace gases have to be measured with what necessary accuracy, in order for OMI to meet Aura’s objectives.

The most important data product of OMI, the ozone vertical column, densities shall have a better accuracy and an improved global coverage than the predecessor instruments TOMS (Total Ozone Monitoring Spectrometer) and GOME (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment), which is a.o. achieved by a better signal to noise ratio, improved calibration and a wide field-of-view. Moreover, in order to meet its role on Aura, OMI shall measure trace gases, such as NO2, OClO, BrO, HCHO and SO2, aerosols, cloud top height and cloud coverage. Improved accuracy, better coverage, and finer ground grid than has been done in the past are goals for OMI.

After the scientific requirements are defined, three sets of subordinate requirements are derived. These are: the algorithm requirements, i.e. what do the algorithms need in order to meet the scientific requirements; the instrument and calibration requirements, i.e. what has to be measured and how accurately in order to provide the quality of data necessary for deriving the data products; and the validation requirements, i.e. a strategy of how the OMI program will assure that its data products are valid in the atmosphere, at least to the required accuracy.