Microwave Limb Sounder THz module on Aura

The objective of the Microwave Limb Sounder THz module on the Aura satellite is to measure stratospheric and mesospheric OIL This paper describes the optical design, alignment, calibration, and performance of the THz module. The calibration uncertainty for one limb scan is substantially less than the precision due to radiometric noise. For averages of many scans, the dominant calibration uncertainty of 2 % is due to uncertainty in beam efficiency. Index Terms--Mesosphere, OH, stratosphere, THz.