SCIAMACHY V8 Solar Spectral Irradiance Validation

Abstract

SCIAMACHY (Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography) on-board the ESA Envisat satellite platform provided daily solar spectra in the wavelength region from 0.24 μm to 2.4 μm. The instrument was operating for nearly a decade from August 2002 to April 2012. This document reports on the validation of the SCIAMACHY solar spectral irradiances (SSI) in its data version 8. Like other UV satellite sounders, the SCIAMACHY spectrometer suffers from optical degradation due to polymerisation of optical surfaces from the harsh UV radiation in space (e.g. Bramstedt et al., 2009; DeLand et al., 2012; Krijger et al., 2014). In data version 8 of SCIAMACHY a physical model of the scanner unit was implemented to provide a degradation correction (Bramstedt et al., 2009; Krijger et al., 2014). Comparisons with several other established solar reference spectra show agreement to within 4 % in most parts of the visible and near infrared from 350 to 1400 nm.