Within Europe’s family of GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) projects, MACC-II (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate, phase 2) deals with the atmosphere. Along with other key services MACC-II provides basic data sets for a number of specific services tailored to different user groups (for example, regional and local air quality information) and serves European monitoring needs in the atmosphere sector.
DLR is in charge of the MACC-II solar radiation service and the interface to MACC-II users. Solar irradiance products are necessary for quantitatively estimating the potential of and for planning solar energy plants. Through intensive iteration with users already during the development stage it is assured that their needs are well understood and can be met to the extent possible. Furthermore, DLR contributes satellite-based information on stratospheric ozone chemistry, tropospheric trace gases and aerosols. Here, the focus is on correctly modeling the Antarctic ozone hole and monitoring different types of aerosol particles.