Stratospheric sounders
Several satellites and space-based instruments were launched in the 1990s-2000 to observe the ozone layer in the stratosphere. More generally, the objective was to better understand the chemistry of the middle stratosphere (stratosphere, mesosphere) and to validate chemistry-transport models to reproduce and predict the ozone hole. These instruments are generally spectrometers covering various spectral ranges, from microwave to ultraviolet. They record atmospheric absorption or emission spectra (level 1) from which inverse models can be used to produce columns or vertical profiles of atmospheric constituent concentrations (level 2) with very high accuracy.
