Design and characterization of the balloon-borne Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS-B2)

MIPAS-B2 is a balloon-borne limb-emission sounder for atmospheric research. The heart of the instrument is a Fourier spectrometer that covers the mid-infrared spectral range (4-14 microns) and operates at cryogenic temperatures. Essential for this application is the sophisticated line-of-sight stabilization system, which is based on an inertial navigation system and is supplemented with an additional star reference system. The major scientific benefit of the instrument is the simultaneous detection of complete trace gas families in the stratosphere without restrictions concerning the time of day and viewing directions. The specifications, the design considerations, the actual realization of the instrument, and the results of characterization measurements that have been performed are described.

Does chlorine peroxide absorb below 250 nm?

Low-lying singlet and triplet electronic excited states of ClOOCl are presented. Calculations of the excitation energies and oscillator strengths are reported using excited state coupled cluster response methods, as well as the complete active space self-consistent field method with the full Breit-Pauli spin-orbit operator. These calculations predict that for ClOOCl there should be a weakly absorbing triplet state lying below the lowest absorbing singlet excited state. This state is predicted to have an absorption maximum at about 385 +/- 25 nm. This lowest triplet state is calculated to be dissociative and leads to ClOO+Cl.