Today, I would like to introduce you to my instrument: mini-DOAS!

You must know that scientists love to use acronyms to name instruments or even experiments (such as the ATTREX mission), so let me spell out for you what mini-DOAS stands for: mini- Differential Optical Absorption Spectrometer. It takes its name from the well established spectroscopic technique (differential optical absorption spectroscopy) used to identify and measure amounts of different gases. So what is mini-DOAS? Mini-DOAS is a remote sensing instrument which uses scattered sunlight in the ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS), and near-infrared (NIR) spectral range to measure the concentration of atmospheric trace gases such as bromine monoxide (BrO),  ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide  (NO2), oxygen dimer (O4), and water vapor. These trace gases are very important because they contribute to the formation and destruction of ozone in the atmosphere of our planet.

In the picture you can see the mini-DOAS instrument integrated in the payload area of the NASA Global Hawk. Briefly, the main components of our instrument are: a vacuum sealed box containing the spectrometers and the optical fiber bundles connecting them to the telescopes mounted on the outside of the aircraft’s fuselage. It’s important to know that the telescopes have the ability to rotate so that they can point towards different viewing angles and therefore collect more information.