Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere-Aircraft (MOPITT-A)

MOPITT (Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere) is a carbon monoxide and methane remote sounder launched in 1999 with the Terra spacecraft. An aircraft replica (MOPITT-A) has been developed at the University of Toronto to perform validation of MOPITT radiances as well as small-scale pollution studies. MOPITT-A is based on the engineering model of MOPITT, modified for flight in NASA´s ER-2 research aircraft. The instrument was first tested over California from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in July 2000. In August and September 2000, it participated in the SAFARI 2000 field campaign in South Africa. This paper presents some of the data collected during SAFARI 2000. MOPITT-A is financed by the Canadian Space Agency and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.