BackForwardInstrument:  TOMS 

Instrument details
Acronym TOMS
Full name Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer
Purpose Total ozone mapping
Short description Grating spectrometer, 6 channels: 312.5, 317.5, 331.3, 339.9, 360.0 and 380 nm, 1 nm bandwidth
Background First ozone mapper, re-flown at several platforms, including a dedicate flight (TOMS Earth Probe)
Scanning Technique Cross-track, 35 IFOVs/line, 8 s/line (50 km/line), swath 3000 km
Resolution 50 km at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Global every day
Mass 34 kg Power 24 W Data Rate 700 bps

 

Providing Agency NASA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 1979 to 2006
Last update: 2013-12-14
Detailed characteristics
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Passive optical radiometer or spectrometer
  • Cross-nadir shortwave (UV/VIS) sounder
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • UV/VIS/NIR sounders, nadir and limb
  • UV/VIS/NIR nadir sounder
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • O3 Total Column
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Aerosol column burden2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
Aerosol effective radius2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
Aerosol mass mixing ratio2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
Aerosol Optical Depth2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
Aerosol type2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
HCHO Total Column3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. HCHO lines around 350 nm
NO2 Total Column3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. Several NO2 lines
O3 Total Column*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectroradiometer. Ozone lines in the bands around 260 nm (Hartley) and/or 340 nm (Huggins)
PSC occurrence3 - highCoarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry
SO2 Total Column5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. SO2 lines around 350 nm
Aerosol volcanic ash2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry, specifically sensitive to ash
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry, specifically sensitive to ash