POAM

The POAM instruments were developed by the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to measure the vertical distribution in the atmosphere of ozone, water vapour and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), as well as aerosol extinction and temperature. The first, POAM 2, was installed on the CNES satellite SPOT 3: it was launched in September 1996 and ceased operation in November 1996. The second, POAM 3, was installed on the CNES SPOT 4 satellite: it was launched in March 1998 and ceased operations in May 2006. Both instruments are visible/IR spectrometers making observations through the Earth’s atmosphere using the solar occultation technique. POAM measures solar extinction in nine narrow-band channels, covering the spectral range from about 350 to 1060 nm.