The Changing-Atmosphere Infra-Red Tomography Explorer (CAIRT) is one of four candidate missions for ESA's Earth Explorer 11. CAIRT (Gaelic word for 'chart') will provide a wealth of data to explore the composition and circulation over the domain from the free troposphere at about 5 km altitude through to the lower thermosphere at about 115 km altitude. This inhomogeneous domain, which includes the middle atmosphere, comprises distinct regions with large and temporally varying horizontal and vertical gradients in trace gas concentrations. The importance of this domain for extreme surface weather and regional climate change is being increasingly recognised, and climate models predict large ongoing and near-future changes in its composition and circulation. However, the observations needed to detect, attribute and understand these changes and their impacts, to test predictions, and thereby to improve our models, are lacking. Global observations at much higher spatial resolution than currently available are required to resolve trace gas transport at scales relevant for mixing within and between regions, and to resolve the gravity waves that play a significant role in driving the middle atmosphere circulation.
EARTH EXPLORER 11 CANDIDATE MISSION CAIRT REPORT FOR ASSESSMENT
2023
Abstract
The Changing-Atmosphere Infra-Red Tomography Explorer (CAIRT) is one of four candidate missions for ESA's Earth Explorer 11. CAIRT (Gaelic word for 'chart') will provide a wealth of data to explore the composition and circulation over the domain from the free troposphere at about 5 km altitude through to the lower thermosphere at about 115 km altitude. This inhomogeneous domain, which includes the middle atmosphere, comprises distinct regions with large and temporally varying horizontal and vertical gradients in trace gas concentrations. The importance of this domain for extreme surface weather and regional climate change is being increasingly recognised, and climate models predict large ongoing and near-future changes in its composition and circulation. However, the observations needed to detect, attribute and understand these changes and their impacts, to test predictions, and thereby to improve our models, are lacking. Global observations at much higher spatial resolution than currently available are required to resolve trace gas transport at scales relevant for mixing within and between regions, and to resolve the gravity waves that play a significant role in driving the middle atmosphere circulation.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
