Overview and early results of the Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES)

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Vol. 115; no. D23
• Main Authors: Kikuchi, Ken-ichi, Nishibori, Toshiyuki, Ochiai, Satoshi, Ozeki, Hiroyuki, Irimajiri, Yoshihisa, Kasai, Yasuko, Koike, Makoto, Manabe, Takeshi, Mizukoshi, Kazuo, Murayama, Yasuhiro, Nagahama, Tomoo, Sano, Takuki, Sato, Ryota, Seta, Masumichi, Takahashi, Chikako, Takayanagi, Masahiro, Masuko, Harunobu, Inatani, Junji, Suzuki, Makoto, Shiotani, Masato
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Blackwell Publishing Ltd 16.12.2010; American Geophysical Union
• Subjects: Atmosphere; atmospheric composition; atmospheric limb sounding; Atmospheric sciences; atmospheric transport; Climate change; Data processing; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Emissions; Exact sciences and technology; Geophysics; International Space Station; middle atmosphere; ozone chemistry; Remote sensing; Scientific apparatus & instruments; atmosphere; experimental studies; waves; spectra; isotopes; data processing; Space station; sounding; frequency; rupture; Altitudinal distribution
• ISSN: 0148-0227; 2169-897X; 2156-2202; 2169-8996
• DOI: 10.1029/2010JD014379

The Superconducting Submillimeter‐Wave Limb‐Emission Sounder (SMILES) was successfully launched and attached to the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) on the International Space Station (ISS) on 25 September 2009. It has been making atmospheric observations since 12 October 2009 with the aid of a 4 K mechanical cooler and superconducting mixers for submillimeter limb‐emission sounding in the frequency bands of 624.32–626.32 GHz and 649.12–650.32 GHz . On the basis of the observed spectra, the data processing has been retrieving vertical profiles for the atmospheric minor constituents in the middle atmosphere, such as O3 with isotopes, HCl, ClO, HO2, BrO, and HNO3. Results from SMILES have demonstrated its high potential to observe atmospheric minor constituents in the middle atmosphere. Unfortunately, SMILES observations have been suspended since 21 April 2010 owing to the failure of a critical component.