Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics www.atmos-chem-phys.net 1680-7316 1680-7324 5 4 2005 10.5194/acp-5-1039-2005 http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/5/1039/2005/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/5/1039/2005/acp-5-1039-2005.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/5/1039/2005/acp-5-1039-2005.pdf 1039 1051 2005-03-29 Validation of SCIAMACHY tropospheric NO₂-columns with AMAXDOAS measurements K.-P. Heue A. Richter M. Bruns J. P. Burrows C. v. Friedeburg U. Platt I. Pundt P. Wang T. Wagner Institut für Umweltphysik, Universität Heidelberg, INF 229, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, P.O. 330440, 28334 Bremen, Germany Tropospheric NO₂ vertical and slant columns from the new satellite instrument SCIAMACHY on ENVISAT are validated by measurements of the <B>A</B>irborne <B>M</B>ulti <B>AX</B>is <B>DOAS</B> (AMAXDOAS) instrument on board the DLR&nbsp;Falcon. The results presented here were obtained in February 2003 on a flight over the Alps, the Po-Valley and the Mediterranean. The tropospheric vertical column measured by AMAXDOAS varied between 16.2 and 35.2*10¹⁵molec/cm² over the Po-Valley where SCIAMACHY data resulted in 19.9 to 37*10¹⁵molec/cm². Over less polluted areas a similarly good agreement was found. The linear correlation between the two datasets results in a slope of 0.93. The slight differences observed can be attributed to the different spatial resolution and the temporal mismatch between the measurements over the Po-Valley.