CAIRT
one mission
The Changing-Atmosphere Infra-Red Tomography Explorer
The Changing-Atmosphere Infra-Red Tomography Explorer CAIRT was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) as one of two candidate missions for the Earth Explorer 11 satellite, undergoing Phase A studies. CAIRT will provide the urgently needed observations throughout the whole depth of the Earth atmosphere, to improve our knowledge of the coupling of atmospheric circulation, composition and regional climate change.
CAIRT will be the first limb-sounder with imaging Fourier-transform infrared technology in space. By observing simultaneously the atmosphere from the mid-troposphere to the lower thermosphere (about 5 to 115 km altitude), CAIRT will provide global observations of ozone, temperature, water vapour, as well as key halogen and nitrogen compounds.
©Picture: ESA T. Reiter
