A New Balloon-Borne Fourier Transform Instrument for Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Trace Species

The Limb Profile Monitor of the Asmosphere (LPMA) instrument is a balloon-borne Fourier transform spectrometer designed to operate on a stratospheric gondola and to record high spectral resolution atmospheric spectra in absorption using the sun as a source. It is used to perform remote sensing measurements of atmospheric trace species in the mid-infrared and can also contribute to detailed validations of line-by- line atmospheric radiative transfer codes.