Ultraviolet Instruments
SSBUV
The Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) instrument was designed to measure ozone concentrations by comparing solar ultraviolet radiation with radiation scattered back from the Earth's atmosphere. SSBUV was first flown in 1989 and has been flown a total of seven times on the Space Shuttle including all three Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS) missions. SSBUV compares the observations of several ozone measuring instruments aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA-9 and NOAA-11 satellites, the Russian Meteor-3/TOMS satellite and the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). The SSBUV data are used to calibrate the instruments to ensure the most accurate readings possible for the detection of atmospheric ozone trends. SSBUV's impact on NASA's ability to detect ozone trends accurately was realized after approximately four flights. Data from the first flight with an earlier satellite already have been used to estimate ozone trends in the upper stratosphere since 1980. These results show a depletion of about 8 percent over 10 years, which is consistent with predictions of ozone depletion. SSBUV has achieved one of it's primary objectives using data from the first three flights, flown in 1989, 1990 and 1991. These data have been used to update the calibration of the NOAA-11 SBUV/2 ozone instrument which has been in orbit since late 1988. The NOAA ozone data have been reprocessed with a refined algorithm and new calibration factors based on SSBUV and SBUV/2 in- flight calibration data, which were provided by NASA. The reprocessing covers the period 1989 to 1993. The reprocessed data have been checked against ground- based ozone observations, and these comparisons show very good agreement. There is also now excellent consistency between the refined NOAA-11 SBUV/2 data and the Nimbus-7 SBUV/TOMS data set, which goes back to 1978. The combined 15-year data set represents an excellent resource for ozone climate and trend studies. SSBUV has detected and verified a significant decrease in the amounts of total Northern Hemisphere between the STS-45/ATLAS-1 (March 1992) and STS-56/ ATLAS-2 (March 1993) missions. The depletion also was detected simultaneously by satellites and ground-based observations. Indications are that total ozone decreased during the same period on the order of 10 to 15 percent at mid- latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Scientists believe that this significant depletion results from the combined residual effects of Mt. Pinatubo aerosols in the stratosphere and cold stratosphere temperatures during the winter of 1992/ 93. Group: Instrument_Details Entry_ID: SSBUV Group: Instrument_Identification Instrument_Category: Solar/Space Observing Instruments Instrument_Class: Ultraviolet Instruments Short_Name: SSBUV Long_Name: Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet End_Group End_Group