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  • A SCIAMACHY calibration verification workshop was held at DLR, Oberpfaffenhofen, on 17/18 December 2003. The new 0-1 processor and new keydata sets (v.2.2, v2.4 and v.3.0) were verified for nadir and limb for orbits 2509 and 2510. Presentations and minutes of the workshop can be found under the news topic on the restricted access area of this web site, subscribe here.
     
  • SCIAMACHY Validation Reference Data set (1500 - 3000 states) is expected to be finished in March 2004. Data distribution by FTP server. The following species are expected to have an improved quality compared to the December 2002 Validation Workshop data:
    • ENVISAT product: SCI_NL_2P
      Mode: Nadir, UV/Vis
      Species: O3, NO2, OClO*, BrO*?, H2CO*, SO2*, Cloud cover fraction, Cloud top height, Aerosol abs. Index
      Remark: * = Observed under special conditions or after averaging.
      Remark: (?) SSAG recommended products (not yet officially confirmed).
    The SCIAMACHY Validation Reference Data set IR-based species and the SCIAMACHY Validation Reference Data set offline products are expected to be available in the 2nd quarter of 2004.(17-12-2003)
     
  • The proceedings of the Envisat Validation Workshop 2002 is now available. See the list of papers of relevance to SCIAMACHY, or visit the Envisat website of ESA. (6-11-2003)
     
  • A recent letter sent to the validation teams contains information about the status of SCIAMACHY data processing and a new time schedule for verification and validation. (29-10-2003)
     
  • Scientific Sciamachy products are now available for validation purposes. A list of products, product descriptions and data request forms are provided on this web site. (28-10-2003)
     
  • A list of Sciamachy validation reference states, and a tool to list the states near ground stations, are available. (28-10-2003)
     
  • An additional service has been activated to ensure instrument availability information.
    The unavailability message generated by the ESOC day or night shift operators is from now on published without delay on the Cal/Val message board of the Envisat Validation Data Centre at NILU.
    Please visit this board prior to any dedicated campaign activity.
    The login information is already available in your team: it is the same as used for uploading your campaign results.
    This board will also receive copies of messages sent to the ACVT and/or MAVT mailing lists in the near future. (23-5-2003)
     
  • The Envisat payload will be switched off approximatelly from orbit 3752 (18/11/2002 04:33) until orbit 3789 (20/11/2002 18:35), as part of the preventive measures taken to minimize the risk of collition during the Leonids Meteor Shower. As the timining of the meteor shower peaks may change, the period of unavailability may be slightly modified accordingly. (12-11-2002)
     
  • No SCIAMACHY measurements will be performed on 18 and 19 November, because of the Leonid Shower. (10-10-2002)
     
  • The German SCIAMACHY Validation Team now has its own website, containing detailed information on the German contribution to the validation of SCIAMACHY, information on meetings, documents, services and links. (8-9-2002)
     
  • The SCIAMACHY down time in the beginning of September, because of a software upgrade in the Envisat on-board computer, is now scheduled between 8 September 7:05 UT and 11 September 11:53 UT. (30-8-2002)
     
  • Another update of the Level 1b to 2 Off-line I/O DD has been produced by DLR/IMF (27-8-2002). This document describes the detailed format of the level 2 OL product. It is indispensable when you make your own reading software. It is available on the DLR website. (30-8-2002)
     
  • SCIAMACHY has been recovered to 'heater mode' on 10:45 UTC. SCIAMACHY is expected to return to nominal operations at 11:43 UTC. The detectors are expected to become thermally stable on Saturday 31-Aug-2002 at 03:45 UTC for channels 1 - 6, 19:45 UTC for channels 7 + 8. (29-8-2002)
     
  • Note that all Envisat instruments will be put in standby mode on 8 September 2002, between 07:00 and 09:00 UTC for a software upgrade of the on-board computer. On 10 September, after succesful upload and testing, the instruments will be switched to pre-measurement modes specific to each instrument, and the day after (11 Sept) SCIAMACHY will resume nominal operations. The current overpass tools do not take that into account. (29-8-2002)
     
  • SCIAMACHY went (unexpectedly) into 'heater refuse mode' on Wednesday 28 August, 18:46 UTC, meaning that from this time onwards there are no measurements performed. The plan is to have SCIAMACHY recovered back to 'heater mode' today at 10:45 UTC. Although the first nominal measurements would then start at 11:43 UTC today, the detector temperatures will need a few days to stabilise. (29-8-2002)
     
  • Predicted SCIAMACHY overpass maps (up till one month ahead) over 130 different ground stations, balloon campaign sites and aircraft campaign trajectories can now be found on this web site. The geolocations are based on the ASCII geolocation files made by SOST. (23-8-2002)

     
  • A new version of the Level 1b to 2 Off-line I/O DD has been produced by DLR/IMF(9-8-2002). This document describes the detailed format of the level 2 OL product. It is indispensable when you make your own reading software. It is available on the DLR website. (20-8-2002)
     
  • The problem with on-board data recording is fixed. Two orbits of SCIAMACHY data have been lost. (12-8-2002)
     
  • The Solid State Recorder on-board Envisat is not recording any low-rate data (among others SCIAMACHY data) since yesterday 20:05. It is not yet clear whether all data from that time onwards is lost, or whether some of the data is safely transferred to the ground, e.g. when the satellite is transmitting directly to Kiruna ground station. This will be sorted out as soon as possible. (12-8-2002)
     
  • SCIAMACHY operations planning until 31 August can be found on the SOST web site. All orbits with nadir and/or limb measurement states are visualized as in these pictures of an orbit planned for 30 August (green:nadir, blue:limb). The geolocation of the states are also available in ASCII. Note that the geolocation information is based on satellite viewing angles. The limb geolocation shows the tangent points. The actual probed air mass also depends on solar zenith angle and atmospheric parameters. (25-7-2002)

     
  • Due to technical problems in the Envisat Ground Segment the distribution of Envisat products to the Validation PI's has been postponed. It is anticipated that data distribution to the Validation PI's will now start on the 15 August 2002. The planning of geophysical validation campaigns is not affected by this because the raw Envisat data are systematically acquired and their quality is OK. These data will be processed and distributed to the Validation PI's as early as possible after the 15 August. (18-7-2002)
     
  • During the period of 25th July - 1th August a non nominal decontamination will be performed. SCIAMACHY channels 7 and 8 seem to suffer a lot from contamination by ice. Depending on the results further decontamination may have to take place in the near future. It is still unclear where the contamination comes from. (11-7-2002)
     
  • The functional testing of SCIAMACHY will be paused from 18 July in order to be measuring in nominal operations (i.e. alternating nadir/limb viewing) during the first balloon and aircraft campaigns. During the following periods SCIAMACHY will be in (almost) nominal operations (provided that the instrument and satellite behave according to plan):
    18 July - 23 July
    2 August - 20 August
    24 August - 31 August
    5 September - 10 September
    13 September - 6 October
    Inbetween these periods it is very likely that SCIAMACHY will be performing the special measurements necessary to assess the instrument characteristics. It is not yet clear when nominal measurements will continue after 6 October. (4-7-2002)
     
  • SCIAMACHY has opened the last cover (for nadir viewing) successfully on 20 June. A decision to send commands to the instrument less frequently seems to work: SCIAMACHY has not been off since 18 June. (4-7-2002)
     
  • SCIAMACHY is off again, after having been on for a few days. Follow the latest news on the SOST website. (13-6-2002)
     
  • SCIAMACHY is planned to be recovered on 10 June. Therefore, a new commissioning phase planning is made, with the following milestones:
    13 June: First preliminary level 1b limb product;
    19 June: Release of nadir cover;
    3 July: First preliminary level 1b and level 2 nadir product;
    15 August: Start of nominal nadir/limb measurements with final flight states (except between 27 August and 1 September).
    For more details see the SOST website. (10-6-2002)
     
  • Just a few days after recovery all instruments are in "suspend" again. Any news on this will be available on the SOST website. The start of nominal operations will almost certainly be delayed (was 7 August, according to latest planning). Last recovery took 9 days. (6-6-2002)
     
  • Due to a spacecraft anomaly all instruments on board ENVISAT are off. Any news on this will be available on the SOST website. (27-5-2002)
     
  • Each SCIAMACHY product now has its own page on this web site with room for validation results and algorithm development. These pages will be regularly updated by the SCIAMACHY validation product coordinators. You can find them via the SCIAMACHY products page. (24-5-2002)
     
  • The opening of the nadir mirror cover is delayed a few more days and is now planned for 7 June, but the start of SCIAMACHY nominal operations is still foreseen for 29 July. For details, see the SOST website, goto "SODAP Astrium" - "Plan Overview". (23-5-2002)
     
  • All instruments on board Envisat have been switched off for a few days, due to a Payload Module Computer anomaly. As a consequence the commissioning phase planning had to be adapted. The opening of the nadir mirror cover is now planned for 3 June. The start of SCIAMACHY nominal operations is delayed with 4 days, and is now foreseen for 29 July. For details, see the SOST website, goto "SODAP Astrium" - "Plan Overview". (16-5-2002)
     
  • The SRC door was opened succesfully. More details can be found via the restricted access discussion site, goto "News" - "SCIAMACHY operations" (subscribe here). (18-4-2002)
     
  • The first solar and limb measurements have been performed. Spectra can be found on the restricted access discussion site, goto "News" - "SCIAMACHY operations" (subscribe here). (10-4-2002)
     
  • The Azimuth Cover release - performed by ESOC under the guidance of Astrium - was a full success, see the SOST website, under "News". SCIAMACHY is now ready for detecting solar light. After some thermal tests and some monitoring measurements SCIAMACHY is scheduled to look into the sun for the first time in orbit 506 on 5 April. (5-4-2002)
     
  • The Envisat launch on 1 March went very good. News on Envisat can be found on the ESA Envisat site.
    SCIAMACHY detectors have measured the internal light sources. First nominal measurements are expected at the end of July, a few weeks later than initially planned. Details can be found on the SCIAMACHY Operations Support web site. (25-3-2002)
     
  • The SCIAMACHY Operations Support web site, maintained by the SCIAMACHY Operations Support Team at DLR-IMF and IUP-IFE, is online. This website gives a wealth of information on SCIAMACHY operations. (21-2-2002)
     
  • SCIAMACHY vertical profiles of O3, NO2, and BrO will not be operationally retrieved before 30 November 2002. Vertical profiles of other species even later. The offline retrieval algorithms for trace gas columns from UV/Vis will be based on the Gome Data Processor version 2.4. This was announced by Dr. Richard Bamler, Director of the Remote Sensing Technology Institute (DLR/IMF), Oberpfaffenhofen. More details on data availability can be found here. (12-2-2002)
     
  • The launch of ENVISAT has now been set to 1st March 2002 at 1:07:59 UT (19-12-2001)
     
  • Due to further tests required on the Ariane upper stage engine, as part of the failure recovery plan, the ENVISAT launch has been delayed and is now contemplated for 2002, week 8 (18-24 February). More news can be found on the ENVISAT website and on the Ariane Space website. (29-11-2001)
     
  • The first in a series of information notes from ESA about Envisat can be found here. (12-11-2001)
     
  • The earliest possible launch date of Envisat is now set to 29 January 2002. (15-10-2001)
     
  • The launchdate of Envisat is postponed again because the Ariane 5 tests have taken longer than foreseen. The launch will not be before 15 January 2002. (28-9-2001)
     
  • The new launch date for Envisat is set to end November 2001. (7-8-2001)
     
  • The data ordering and distribution procedures for the first 9 months after launch have been established. See for details the data access section.(31-7-2001)
     
  • The malfunction during the Artemis launch on 12 July will almost certainly lead to a delay in the launch time of Envisat. Nothing can be said yet about the actual amount of delay. Arianespace has appointed an inquiry board to establish the cause of the malfunction in the upper stage of the Ariane 5. The latest news can be found on Arianespace's web site and on ESA's web site.(19-7-2001)
     
  • Artemis stranded in the wrong orbit yesterday. Artemis is ESA's newest communication satellite. It would among others be used to transfer data from Sciamachy to ESRIN for NRT processing. ESA is studying the possibilities to bring Artemis in the right orbit. The latest news can be found on ESA's web site. (13-7-2001)
     
  • The nominal launch date of Envisat is now 12 October 2001 (launch window 24 Sep - 24 Oct). (13-7-2001)
     
  • A level 2 Sciamachy Off-Line test product is now available via this DLR website. (8-5-2001)
     
  • The 2nd Envisat cal/val rehearsal will be from 25 to 29 June 2001. The ACVT rehearsal review meeting will be on 17 and 18 July. (3-5-2001)
     
  • Envisat launch reference date is now 2 October 2001. (3-4-2001)
     
  • The new Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents for the level 0-1 and 1-2 processing of Sciamachy are now available through this DLR website. (19-3-2001)
     
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