Observations of the stratospheric composition with the balloon-borne and space-based MIPAS limb emission sounders

A deeper understanding of long-term ozone trends and periods of significant ozone depletion as well as of the increase of the greenhouse effect requires concerted actions of experimenters and modellers. With respect to observations, atmospheric constituents need to be measured simultaneously and on a global basis. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers are especially suited for this measurement task. A challenging branch of FTIR spectroscopy is their application to limb emission sounding by using cryogenic instrumentation. This method allows the measurements to be made independent of the time of the day. The MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding) balloon-borne (MIPAS-B) and space-based (MIPAS-S) experiments apply this technique. While the MIPAS-B instrument has already been used for several years for process studies, the MIPAS-S instrument is in development for ESA's ENVISAT-1 mission. The most important results in ozone research achieved with MIPAS-B are discussed, and a review of the scientific capabilities of the MIPAS space experiment is given.