Air Quality Remote Sensing Program
Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2)

The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) is one of the next-generation European instruments carried on MetOp (Meteorological Operations Platform) and will continue the long-term monitoring of atmospheric ozone started by GOME on European Remote Sensing (ERS-2) and SCanning Imaging Absorption SpectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY) on Envisat. The more advanced GOME-2 is set to make a significant contribution towards climate and atmospheric research, while providing near real-time data for use in air quality forecasting.

The GOME-2 air quality products at NOAA will include trace gases (ozone, NO₂, H₂CO, glyoxal) and aerosols, which will be operational in the future.

Based on the latest ESA news, "MetOp, the first in the new European series of operational meteorological satellites in polar orbit, is now scheduled for launch on 17 October 2006. The new date was established last week following various planning meetings between the partners (ESA, EUMETSAT, CNES, NOAA) and Starsem, the launcher company."

About the GOME-2 Spectrometer

The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) is a spectrometer that measures both the radiance component of the light reflected by the Sun- illuminated Earth's atmosphere and the direct Sun light. The measurements are used to obtain a detailed information on global trace gas distributions of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, water vapor, bromine oxide and other trace gases as well as aerosol properties. (Image and description of the spectrometer courtesy of the Netherlands Institute for Space Research.)