Solar occultation observations from the international space station: Deployment of a FTS for Atmospheric chemistry and trend studies

We propose the deployment of SAGE IV on the International Space Station (ISS) for recording solar occultation observations in the 2008-2013 time period. The design of SAGE IV is based on the SAGE III near UV-visible grating spectrometer with a 1.55 μm PIN diode, but also includes a compact Fourier transform spectrometer operating between 740 and 4100 cm−1. The combined instrumentation would focus on obtaining simultaneous high vertical resolution stratospheric profiles of ozone, over 30 other molecules, temperature, density, and aerosols at low to mid-latitudes to monitor the recovery of the ozone layer as the abundances of the chlorofluorocarbons decline. SAGE IV would extend the SAGE III ISS observational record to 2008-2013 with a consistent set of observations and data processing methods.