Producing fully characterized and traceable reference measurements for independent validation of satellite measurements, using MAX-DOAS type instruments. (PI: BIRA, BE)
The Fiducial Reference Measurements for Ground-Based DOAS Air-Quality Observations (FRM4DOAS) is a 2-year ESA project, which started in July 2016. It aims at further harmonization of MAXDOAS systems and data sets, through the specification of best practices for instrument operation demonstration of a centralised NRT (near-real-time/6-24h latency) processing system for MAXDOAS instruments operated within the international Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) establishment of links with other UV-Visible instrument networks, e.g. Pandonia
The target species for the first phase of the project are tropospheric and stratospheric NO2 vertical profiles, total O3 columns, and tropospheric HCHO profiles. The aim is to produce homogenous ground-based reference datasets from instruments being operated at long-term monitoring sites (e.g. NDACC) or during field campaigns. Such reference data sets will play a crucial role in the validation of future atmospheric composition satellite missions, in particular the ESA Copernicus Sentinel missions S-5P, S-4, and S-5.
