MicroCarb

MicroCarb [Airbus DS]

MicroCarb is a CNES mission for monitoring and characterization of the CO₂ surface fluxes, that is the exchanges between the sources (natural or anthropogenic) and the sinks (the atmosphere, the ocean, the land and the vegetation).

The Microcarb satellite relies on a platform inherited from the generic Myriade micro satellite bus developed by the CNES, in partnership with space industry leaders Airbus Defence and Space and Thalès Alenia Space.

The Instrument on board MicroCarb is an infrared Passive Spectrometer operating In 4 wavelengths; it relies on the use of an echelle grating (dispersive element) for the spectral dispersion.

The instrument performs measurement of Atmospheric spectra for the following species:

• Oxygen O₂ (at 0.8 µm) permitting to re build the surface pressure and then to normalize the computed CO₂ column concentration
• Carbon dioxide CO₂ in two bands: one first band around 1.6 µm, a second band around 2 µm,
• Methane (CH₄) about 1.67 µm.

The entrance of the Spectrometer is a narrow slit perpendicular to the track of the satellite which scans the ground during the Integration time on the detector.