GEOSCIA: the geostationary scanning imaging absorption spectrometer: optical concept and design

Abstract Except for meteorological satellites earth observation is usually performed from satellites in low Earth orbit. An instrument GeoSCIA ( GEOstationary SCanning Imaging Absorption spectromter) is proposed for observation of the atmosphere from a geostationary orbit ( 36,000 km altitude). Herewith diurnal variation of geophysical parameters such as tropospheric pollution, change in atmospheric composition and stratospheric ozone loss and control can be measured. The instrument consists of 4 spectral channels in the wavelength range from 270–950 nm, including both the O 2 band (755–780 nm) and the H 2 O band (920–950 nm).