The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) is a satellite mission on board the Canadian satellite SCISAT that takes measurements of the Earth's atmosphere. Originally planned to have a two-year lifetime, ACE performs flawlessly 20 years on.
ACE uses Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of sunlight during sunrise and sunset to determine the abundance of 46 atmospheric molecules associated with ozone depletion, air pollution, and climate change.
All these mission data products are produced in the Chemistry Department at the University of Waterloo at the ACE Science Operations Centre (SOC). The SOC analyzes the ACE infrared spectra and distributes their data products to hundreds of users around the world.
Dr. Peter Bernath is the Mission Scientist and this mission involves the collaboration of members from several universities, industries and other organizations in Canada and around the world. Funding for the ACE mission is primarily provided by the Canadian Space Agency.
With 46+ atmospheric molecules measured over 20 years, ACE stands as Canada's most successful scientific satellite mission.
SCISAT was launched on August 13, 2003 (UTC time) and has been measuring data since February, 2004. The SCISAT mission originally had a 2-year lifetime, but has far exceeded that!
The most recent ACE-FTS dataset, version 5, has over 20 years of atmospheric data for 46 molecules, plus isotopologues and line-of-sight winds.
SCISAT has orbited the Earth over 120,000 times!
News
ACE in the news: "Balloon-Borne AirCore Soundings Pin Down Stratospheric Lifetimes of Carbonyl Sulfide and Methane"
A recent publication in Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics entitled Consistent estimates of carbonyl sulfide and methane stratospheric lifetimes retrieved from AirCore profiles at different latitudes used ACE satellite data to validate stratospheric lifetimes of carbonyl sulfide and methane retrieved from balloon-borne AirCore measurements. A press release from Bioengineer.org provides more information on this important study and specifically references the use of ACE v5.3 satellite data.
ACE in the news: "Satellite observations put stratospheric methane loss higher than models predicted"
A recent publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences entitled Global stratospheric methane loss from satellite observations has shown that incorporating ACE satellite data helps reconcile the top-down and bottom-up estimates of the global methane budget. A press release in Phys.org provides more information on this important study and includes the importance of this satellite data.
ACE in the news: "Protecting what’s above"
The University of Waterloo published a news report on our research!
"Celebrating ACE’s contributions to atmospheric monitoring on World Ozone Day"