Determination of Greenhouse Gas Concentrations from the 16U CubeSat Spacecraft Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

Greenhouse gases absorb the Earth’s thermal radiation and partially return it to the Earth’s surface. When accumulated in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases lead to an increase in the average global air temperature and, as a result, climate change. In this paper, an approach to measuring CO [Formula: see text] and CH [Formula: see text] concentrations using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is proposed. An FTIR spectrometer mockup, operating in the wavelength range from 1.0 to 1.7 [Formula: see text] m with a spectral resolution of 10 cm [Formula: see text] , is described. The results of CO [Formula: see text] and CH [Formula: see text] observations throughout a day in urban conditions are presented. A low-resolution FTIR spectrometer for the 16U CubeSat spacecraft is described. The FTIR spectrometer has a 2.0–2.4 [Formula: see text] m spectral range for CO [Formula: see text] and CH [Formula: see text] bands, a 0.75–0.80 [Formula: see text] m range for reference O [Formula: see text] bands, an input field of view of 10 [Formula: see text] rad and a spectral resolution of 2 cm [Formula: see text]. The capabilities of the 16U CubeSat spacecraft for remote sensing of greenhouse gas emissions using a developed FTIR spectrometer are discussed. The design of a 16U CubeSat spacecraft equipped with a compact, low-resolution FTIR spectrometer is presented.