Abstract. MIPAS, the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding, is a mid-infrared emission spectrometer which is part of the core payload of ENVISAT. It is a limb sounder, i.e. it scans across the horizon detecting atmospheric spectral radiances which are inverted to vertical temperature, trace species and cloud distributions. These data can be used for scientific investigations in various research fields including dynamics and chemistry in the altitude region between upper troposphere and lower thermosphere.The instrument is a well calibrated and characterized Fourier transform spectrometer which is able to detect many trace constituents simultaneously. The different concepts of retrieval methods are described including multi-target and two-dimensional retrievals. Operationally generated data sets consist of temperature, H 2 O, O 3 , CH 4 , N 2 O, HNO 3 , and NO 2 profiles. Measurement errors are investigated in detail and random and systematic errors are specified. The results are validated by independent instrumentation which has been operated at ground stations or aboard balloon gondolas and aircraft. Intercomparisons of MIPAS measurements with other satellite data have been carried out, too. As a result, itCorrespondence to: H. Fischer (herbert.fischer@imk.fzk.de) has been proven that the MIPAS data are of good quality.MIPAS can be operated in different measurement modes in order to optimize the scientific output. Due to the wealth of information in the MIPAS spectra, many scientific results have already been published. They include intercomparisons of temperature distributions with ECMWF data, the derivation of the whole NO y family, the study of atmospheric processes during the Antarctic vortex split in September 2002, the determination of properties of Polar Stratospheric Clouds, the downward transport of NO x in the middle atmosphere, the stratosphere-troposphere exchange, the influence of solar variability on the middle atmosphere, and the observation of Non-LTE effects in the mesosphere.

[1] A new retrieval algorithm for the determination of aerosol properties using MultiAXis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) measurements based on nonlinear optimal estimation is presented. Using simulated MAX-DOAS measurements of the optical depth of the collision complex of oxygen (O 4 ) as well as the variation of the intensity of diffuse skylight measured at different viewing directions and wavelengths, the capability of this measurement technique to derive the aerosol extinction profile as well as information on the phase function and single scattering albedo is demonstrated. The information content, vertical resolution and retrieval errors under various atmospheric conditions are discussed. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the assumption of a smooth variation of the aerosol properties between successive measurements can be used to improve the quality of the retrieval by applying a Kalman smoother. The results of these model studies suggest that the achievable precision of MAX-DOAS measurements of the aerosol total optical depth is better than 0.01 and thus comparable with established methods of aerosol detection by Sun photometers (e.g., within the AERONET network) over a wide range of atmospheric conditions. Moreover, MAX-DOAS measurements contain information on the vertical profile of the aerosol extinction, and can be performed with relatively simple, robust and self-calibrating instruments.

The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) forms the main infrared sounding component of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites's (EUMETSAT's) Meteorological Operation (MetOp)-A satellite (Klaes et al. 2007), which was launched in October 2006. This article presents the results of the first 4 yr of the operational IASI mission. The performance of the instrument is shown to be exceptional in terms of calibration and stability. The quality of the data has allowed the rapid use of the observations in operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) and the development of new products for atmospheric chemistry and climate studies, some of which were unexpected before launch. The assimilation of IASI observations in NWP models provides a significant forecast impact; in most cases the impact has been shown to be at least as large as for any previous instrument. In atmospheric chemistry, global distributions of gases, such as ozone and carbon monoxide, can be produced in near–real time, and short-lived species, such as ammonia or methanol, can be mapped, allowing the identification of new sources. The data have also shown the ability to track the location and chemistry of gaseous plumes and particles associated with volcanic eruptions and fires, providing valuable data for air quality monitoring and aircraft safety. IASI also contributes to the establishment of robust long-term data records of several essential climate variables. The suite of products being developed from IASI continues to expand as the data are investigated, and further impacts are expected from increased use of the data in NWP and climate studies in the coming years. The instrument has set a high standard for future operational hyperspectral infrared sounders and has demonstrated that such instruments have a vital role in the global observing system.

Abstract. Reliable reference profiles and estimates of variability are a necessity for a variety of processes relating to ENVISAT including the development of key aspects and inputs for the operational processor for the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding. MIPAS reference atmospheres have therefore been produced in two forms, namely standard atmospheres for modelling and error analysis for typical atmospheric situations and the IG2 seasonal climatologies for initial guess profiles used as part of the operational processing. The reference states cover 36 species on a common altitude, pressure, and temperature grid from 0 to 120 km, and include both means and estimates of variability (maximum, minimum and one sigma values). This paper describes V3.1 of the standard atmospheres and V4.0 of the IG2 atmospheres which are the current versions of the reference atmospheres. Particular attention is paid to the MIPAS operational geophysical products (pressure/temperature, H2O, O3, CH4, N2O, HNO3 and NO2) and to CO2 whose mixing ratio is required for the retrieval of pressure and temperature. A dynamic representation of CO2 is presented which shows the presence of CO2 gradients in the troposphere and the lower stratosphere. Since these atmospheres have been produced independently of MIPAS data, it is also possible to compare the data to the MIPAS operational products and derive valuable information on both the reference atmospheres and on MIPAS data products themselves. This process has been performed for V4.61/V4.62 data from the year 2003 as part of the MIPAS validation activity. It is demonstrated that the agreement between the MIPAS mean data and the reference atmospheres is very good in mid-latitudes and the tropics, verifying these data to first order. There is also reasonable agreement in standard deviations between the IG2 atmospheres and the corresponding sigmas calculated from the MIPAS data. Knowledge of tropospheric concentrations of CH4 and N2O is used to examine the accuracy of the MIPAS data and their susceptibility to cloud effects. It is shown that for the highest accuracy, MIPAS data should be filtered with cloud index values of 2.5 for N2O and 3.5 for CH4. Once such filtering has been performed, the MIPAS data for these species appear to be accurate to within 10% in the upper troposphere. The use of cloud index data in combination with MIPAS data is recommended for studies of the polar winter stratosphere and the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere.