Organization:
Research Title: Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer Program (TOMS)
Funding Level (millions of dollars):
| FY94 | 17.0 |
|---|---|
| FY95 | 18.6 |
| FY96 | 11.8 |
Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) Component:
(a) Subcommittee: Global Change Research Subcommittee (100%)
Task Group on Observations and Data Management
(b) Environmental Issue: Stratospheric ozone, Tropospheric ozone
Surface Ultraviolet Radiation
(c) Research Activity: System structure and function: Observations (100%)
Organizational Components:
NASA HQ
Mail Code YS
Washington, DC 20546
Point of Contact:
Jack A. Kaye
Phone: 202-358-0757
Fax: 202-358-2770
Research Goals:
Build, integrate, launch for space flight modified version of the Total Ozone
Mapping
Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument to measure total ozone from space; process and
analyze
data from operating instruments.
Research Description:
The TOMS instrument is a six channel ultraviolet radiation remote sensing
instrument
using the Backscatter Ultraviolet (BUV) technique to measure total ozone amounts
from space. By virtue of cross-track scanning, it provides complete daily maps of
total ozone distribution over sunlit regions of the Earth. TOMS measurements go
back to October, 1978 with the launch of the first TOMS instrument aboard NASA's
Nimbus 7 satellite. This instrument operated until May, 1993. A second TOMS
instrument
was launched aboard a Russian Meteor-3 spacecraft in August, 1991 and continues to
operate at this
writing. Future launches of TOMS instruments are planned for the following
schedule:
Fall 1994 - launch aboard Earth Probe satellite using Pegasus XL vehicle
Winter 1996 - launch aboard Japanese ADEOS spacecraft
Mid- 1998 - launch aboard a Russian Meteor-3M spacecraft Each of these future TOMS instruments is planned to fly in a polar, sun- synchronous orbit, which is optimal for measurements of global ozone using the BUV technique.
Program Interfaces:
The major interfaces of the TOMS program are to the stratospherically oriented
programs
within NASA, including the Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling and Analysis
Program
(ACMAP) and the Upper Atmosphere Research Program (UARP). There is a close
relationship between the TOMS program and the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet
(SBUV/2)
program conducted by NOAA and NASA through the flight of SBUV/2
instruments aboard
NOAA's polar orbiting meteorological satellites (SBUV/2 also measures total ozone
using
the BUV technique but does not have cross-track scanning capability to provide full
surface
mapping). The TOMS program also interacts closely with NASA's Shuttle Solar
Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) Program, located within the Payloads and
Instrument
Development Program within MTPE. The TOMS program also has a close
relationship
with
the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) instrument being prepared for
launch
by
the European Space Agency. Linkage to the broader international scientific
community
is
accomplished mainly through the Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate
(SPARC) subgroup of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) as well as use
of
TOMS data in externally-sponsored international assessments, such as the World
Meteorological Organization/ United Nations Environment Programme
(WMO/UNEP)
ozone assessment. NASA and FAA have recently signed a memorandum of
agreement to
facilitate FAA's use of real-time TOMS data in a test mode to determine its
usefulness
in
aircraft routing for both hazard avoidance and improved efficiency.
Program Milestones:
FY 1994: complete development of TOMS version 7 algorithm, obtain accurate
calibration
parameters for Meteor 3 TOMS instrument; FY1995: Launch EP TOMS (assuming
launch
vehicle readiness) and begin data production, reprocess Nimbus 7 TOMS data with
version
7 algorithm; FY96: ADEOS TOMS launch
Policy Payoffs:
Continued accurate global monitoring of global total ozone distributions which can
be used
in international assessments and in determination of atmospheric response to trace
gas
forcing.