The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) concept for the changing-atmosphere infrared tomography (CAIRT) satellite mission as one of two remaining candidates for an Earth observation mission. The final decision for implementation will be made in 2025.
“For us, this means that the mission is now entering Phase A – which makes our plans much more concrete,” explained Professor Björn-Martin Sinnhuber from the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research at KIT, who is coordinating the scientific work. “If ESA ultimately selects our proposal, we should be able to get data in the early 2030s.”
By then, CAIRT could be launched into orbit as the ESA Earth Explorer 11 satellite. The purpose of the mission is to obtain data on changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. This is expected to improve understanding of the links between atmospheric circulation, the exact composition of the atmosphere and regional climate changes.
The centerpiece of CAIRT is an imaging infrared spectrometer to measure a large number of trace gases, aerosols and atmospheric waves with unprecedented spatial resolution. “We are familiar with tomography as a tool for medical diagnostics,” said Sinnhuber. “Basically, the same thing happens here, just a bit bigger. It’s a kind of space tomograph for the entire Earth’s atmosphere.” CAIRT will regularly measure the atmosphere at an altitude of 5km to 115km in the infrared range with a horizontal resolution of around 50km by 50km and a vertical resolution of 1km.
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