The 9th International HEPPA-SOLARIS Meeting

The Changing-Atmosphere Infra-Red Tomography Explorer CAIRT – a candidate for ESA’s Earth Explorer 11

17 Sept 2024, 11:30

30m

Cloth Hall Court (University of Leeds, UK)

Oral New missions and tools relevant to detection and attribution of solar signals and particle impacts New missions and tools

Speaker

Prof. Björn-Martin Sinnhuber (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)

Description

The Changing-Atmosphere Infra-Red Tomography Explorer (CAIRT) is currently in Phase A as one of two candidates for ESA’s Earth Explorer 11. As a Fourier transform infrared limb imager, CAIRT will observe simultaneously from the middle troposphere to the lower thermosphere at high spectral resolution and with unprecedented horizontal and vertical resolution. With this, CAIRT will provide critical information on (a) atmospheric gravity waves, circulation and mixing, (b) coupling with the upper atmosphere, solar variability and space weather and, (c) aerosols and pollutants in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. In this presentation we will give an overview of CAIRT’s science goals with a focus on the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region and the expected mission performance, based on latest results from Phase A studies.