Assessing the impact of radiometric noise on IASI performances

Abstract The performances of the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) which is under development at the aboratories of the French National Space Agency and Italian National Space Agency have been evaluated. An error analysis has been carried out on the basis of the expected radiometric noise. To this end, a linear form of the radiative transfer equation has been formulated for the direct and simultaneous estimation of temperature, water vapour and ozone profiles.