Stratospheric Aerosol Observations With a Cubesat-Scale Instrument

Monitoring the distribution and evolution of aerosol particles in the stratosphere (~15-30 km altitude) is important for understanding their potential contribution to long-term climate through heating. Significant short-term effects are also observed due to volcanic eruptions and smoke plumes from large wildfires, which can have considerable economic consequences. These aerosols are currently monitored using limb scattering measurements from the operational Ozone Mapping and Profiling Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler (LP) instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite. We have developed a compact version of the OMPS LP sensor called Multi-Angle Stratospheric Aerosol Radiometer (MASTAR) in order to improve the sensitivity and spatial coverage of these aerosol data. The instrument optical design fits into a 3U Cubesat form factor, and makes limb viewing measurements of the atmosphere in multiple directions simultaneously. These additional measurements provide better sensitivity in the Southern Hemisphere, and will also enable improvements in the OMPS LP retrieval algorithm. MASTAR only uses selected wavelengths in the visible and near-IR (670 nm, 850 nm) for aerosol measurements to reduce size and cost. Additional measurements are made at 350 nm to validate satellite pointing, which is a critical parameter for accurate limb observations. We will discuss the results of MASTAR laboratory and field testing, and describe development plans for a next-generation instrument.