Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite

Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite
Name	Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite
Mission	Suomi NPP
Operator	National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Manufacturer	Ball Aerospace / NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Launch	2011-10-28
Spacecraft	Suomi NPP
Country	United States
Type	Earth-observing spectrometer

Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite is a satellite instrument package flown on Suomi NPP designed to measure atmospheric ozone distribution and related atmospheric constituents. It provides nadir and limb-viewing radiometry to support operational National Weather Service forecasts, World Meteorological Organization ozone assessments, and research by communities including NASA, NOAA, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and academic groups at University of Maryland, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Columbia University. The suite bridges continuity between historic ozone records from Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer and Ozone Monitoring Instrument and modern hyperspectral missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-5P and planned instruments on JPSS platforms.

Overview

OMPS was developed under cooperative efforts involving NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NOAA Satellite Operations Facility, and industrial partners such as Ball Aerospace and Raytheon. It continues the legacy of ozone remote sensing begun by Nimbus-4, Nimbus-7, and the Earth Probe mission, providing measurements that inform reports by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The project links operational services at National Centers for Environmental Prediction with research groups at institutions including University of Colorado Boulder, Harvard University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, CSIRO, and Caltech.

Instrumentation and Design

OMPS consists of multiple sensors built to perform complementary tasks: a nadir mapper, a nadir profiler, and a limb profiler, leveraging flight heritage from instruments like GOME, SCIAMACHY, and TOMS. Design teams from NASA Langley Research Center, Ball Aerospace, and Northrop Grumman implemented ultraviolet-visible spectrometers with diffraction gratings and charge-coupled device detectors similar to those used on Aqua and Aura. The optical bench, radiometric calibration sources, and sun-calibration mechanisms drew on engineering lessons from Landsat, MODIS, VIIRS, and OMI programs. Instrument thermal control and structural design referenced standards from Jet Propulsion Laboratory and vibration qualification at Marshall Space Flight Center.

Data Products and Processing

OMPS delivers Level 1 radiances, Level 2 total column ozone, and vertical ozone profile retrievals used by agencies including European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Met Office, Japan Meteorological Agency, and regional centers such as CIRA and NOAAPORT. Data processing pipelines at NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information and NASA Goddard implement retrieval algorithms influenced by methods from Heath model heritage and optimal estimation approaches used by GODFIT and SBUV. Products are assimilated by global analysis systems like GMAO and ECMWF Integrated Forecasting System and archived alongside records from SSBUV and Dobson spectrophotometer networks at observatories including Mauna Loa Observatory and Boulder Atmospheric Observatory.

Mission History and Operations

Launched with Suomi NPP on 28 October 2011, OMPS operations are coordinated by NOAA NESDIS and mission planning groups from NASA Headquarters and NOAA Satellite and Information Service. Early mission commissioning involved teams at Vandenberg Space Force Base and instrument checkout with support from Ball Aerospace engineers and scientists from University of Maryland Baltimore County. OMPS has provided continuity for ozone climate records used in assessments by Montreal Protocol reporting panels, linking to historic events such as the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole documented by researchers at British Antarctic Survey and NASA Ames Research Center.

Scientific Applications and Findings

OMPS data have been used to study stratospheric ozone trends, polar spring ozone depletion, and interactions with dynamics from phenomena such as the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, El Niño–Southern Oscillation, and the Arctic polar vortex. Results contributed to analyses of radiative forcing in IPCC assessments and to investigations of tropospheric pollution transport observed alongside missions like A-Train, CALIPSO, and MISR. OMPS observations supported studies of volcanic aerosol effects after eruptions monitored by Mount Pinatubo analyses and contemporary plume tracking from eruptions at Eyjafjallajökull and Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, and fed into chemistry-climate models developed at NCAR, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, and Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.

Calibration, Validation, and Performance

Calibration and validation campaigns engaged networks and facilities including NDACC, WMO GAW, AERONET, and ground-based instruments such as Dobson spectrophotometer, Brewer spectrophotometer, and lidar systems at sites operated by NOAA ESRL and the European Space Research and Technology Centre. Intercomparisons with spaceborne sensors like OMI, GOME-2, and TROPOMI provide cross-calibration references, while campaigns supported by NASA ER-2 aircraft flights and field sites at Barrow Observatory, Lauder, and Harestua characterize vertical sensitivity and systematic errors. Performance assessments reported stability and continuity adequate for long-term trend detection consistent with recommendations from WMO Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion.

Category:Atmospheric sounding instruments