Abstract

Increasing concern is being expressed about the impact of anthropogenic emissions on the present and future state of the lower atmosphere: urban & regional pollution; acid deposition; stratospheric ozone depletion; climatological effects of the increase in "greenhouse" gases; etc. There is a clear need for instrumentation to study these questions on a global scale. Accordingly, we describe the concept of a cryogenic infrared (600 - 3450 cm’¹; 2.9 - 16.7 μm) imaging Fourier transform spectrometer for observations of the troposphere and lower stratosphere from near-Earth orbit using natural thermal emission and reflected sunlight (when appropriate). The system, called the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), has been accepted by NASA for Phase B definition studies leading to flight on one of the Eos polar platforms later this century.

© 1990 Optical Society of America