A Geostationary Atmospheric Monitor for the Middle East

A Geostationary Atmospheric Monitor for the Middle East

R. M. Suleiman

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Abstract. Atmospheric pollution measurements from space have been evolving from low- earth-orbits (LEO) to geostationary orbits (GEO), to track the diurnal variation of atmospheric emissions. There are three GEO instruments in development. TEMPO is NASA’s first Earth Venture Instrument, to be launched in August 2022. It will measure atmospheric pollution for greater North America using ultraviolet and visible spectroscopy. The European Sentinel-4 and the South Korean GEMS will measure atmospheric pollution for Europe and Southeast Asia, respectively. In this talk, we describe NASA’s TEMPO instrument and we propose a similar instrument in GEO to provide hourly atmospheric pollution measurements for the Middle East at very high spatial resolution. The proposed Middle-East TEMPO instrument will cover Arab Countries, and parts of Asia and Europe. The measurement will include the spectra required to retrieve O3, NO2, SO2, H2CO, C2H2O2, H2O, aerosols, cloud parameters, and UVB radiation.