The New SCIAMACHY Reference Solar Spectral Irradiance and Its Validation

• Published in: Solar physics Vol. 293; no. 8; pp. 1 - 26
• Main Authors: Hilbig, T., Weber, M., Bramstedt, K., Noël, S., Burrows, J. P., Krijger, J. M., Snel, R., Meftah, M., Damé, L., Bekki, S., Bolsée, D., Pereira, N., Sluse, D.
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-08-2018; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag; Kluwer Academic Publishers
• Subjects: Aerospace environments; Astrophysics; Astrophysics and Astroparticles; Atmospheric Sciences; Aérospatiale, astronomie & astrophysique; Instrumentation and data management; Irradiance; Light sources; Photovoltaic cells; Physical, chemical, mathematical & earth Sciences; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Physique, chimie, mathématiques & sciences de la terre; Satellite instruments; SCIAMACHY; Sciences of the Universe; Solar and Stellar Astrophysics; Solar irradiance; Solar physics; Solar spectral irradiance; Solar spectrum; Space Exploration and Astronautics; Space science, astronomy & astrophysics; Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics; Spectra; Spectrum; White light; Solar irradiance; SCIAMACHY; Instrumentation and data management; Spectrum
• ISSN: 0038-0938; 1573-093X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11207-018-1339-9

This paper describes a new reference solar spectrum retrieved from measurements of the satellite instrument SCIAMACHY in the wavelength region from
0.24
μ
m
to
2.4
μ
m
and its comparison with several other established solar reference spectra. The SCIAMACHY reference spectrum was recorded early in the mission before substantial optical degradation due to the harsh space environment sets in. The radiometric calibration of SCIAMACHY, applied in this study, includes a physical model of the scanner unit. Furthermore, SCIAMACHY’s internal white light source (WLS) is used to correct for on-ground to in-flight changes. The resultant calibrated solar spectrum from SCIAMACHY is in good agreement with several available solar spectral irradiance (SSI) references in the visible spectral range. Strong throughput losses due to detector icing in the near infrared (NIR) are now adequately accounted for. Nevertheless, a deficit with respect to the ATLAS-3 composite and SORCE/SIM SSI is observed in the NIR. However, the SCIAMACHY solar reference spectrum agrees well with the recently re-evaluated SOLAR/SOLSPEC-ISS and recent ground measurements taken at Mauna Loa in the NIR.