The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) is an ultraviolet to visible light imaging spectrometer, launched onboard the NASA EOS-Aura satellite in 2004. OMI measures the global concentration of atmospheric ozone and other important gases in the Earth's atmosphere on a daily basis and with high spatial resolution.
OMI measurements as seen in Google Earth - credit: KNMI and Google EarthNASA’s Aura satellite aims to see whether the ozone layer is recovering as expected, what the sources, properties and movements are of tropospheric pollutants, and how the Earth’s climate is changing. The OMI instrument is a nadir viewing, non-scanning, imaging spectrometer that measures backscattered radiation over a wavelength range from 270 to 500 nm with a spectral resolution of about 0.5 nm. The 114° viewing angle of the telescope corresponds to a 2600 km wide swath on the surface, which enables measurements with a daily global coverage. OMI is operated in push-broom mode and employs a two-dimensional detector. In normal global operation mode, the OMI pixel size is 13 km× 24 km at nadir. In the zoom mode, the spatial resolution can be reduced to 13 km × 12 km. OMI’s daily global images provide scientists with essential data about our atmosphere and specialized advances in technology, like the quasi-volume diffuser for calibration in space, enable a more accurate interpretation of the data collected, providing a leap forward in knowledge of our planet’s atmosphere.
The Netherlands and OMI
The OMI project is a cooperation between the Netherlands, Finland and the United States. OMI was originally managed by the NIVR. As of 2009, the on-going tasks have been transferred to the NSO. The OMI project is financed by the Dutch Ministries of Economic Affairs, Transport and Public Works and the Ministry of Education and Science. The instrument was built by Dutch Space and TNO along with numerous Dutch sub-contractors. The analysis and development of scientific data from OMI is managed by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI).
