---
title: "Ozone monitoring instrument"
chunk: 2/2
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_monitoring_instrument"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:41:50.471413+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Scientific relevance ==

The OMI project has been monitoring the atmospheric composition and providing measurements widely used in the field of atmospheric chemistry research. The fact that it has been operational for more than a decade makes it also useful for trend monitoring. The reference describing the first 14 years of the OMI details the research data products provided by NASA, KNMI, FMI and SAO, also according to these authors, beyond the initial goals, OMI has been important due the high-resolution NO2 and SO2 measurements (OMI is the first instrument that is able to obtain daily global coverage combined with such spatial resolution), and the fact that top-down studies allowed for source attribution analyses.

=== Awards ===
The International Team of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument has received several awards for its contributions to a better understanding of the Earth system:

USGS 2018 Pecora Award The Pecora award is annual to recognize individuals or teams using remote sensing in the field of Earth Science. It consider not only the scientific role but also its role informing decision makers and supporting natural or human-induced disaster responses.
2021 AMS Special Award A broad description of this award to OMI International Team is given as an AMS video.

=== Contributions to scientific research ===
Assessment of the Montreal Protocol: the instrument has proved stability to provide long-term data record for monitoring the ozone layer, which is the particular interest to evaluate the possible recovery of the ozone depletion in the southern hemisphere.
Global concentrations of trace gases: the OMI data show a steady decline in concentrations of NO2 in the United States, Europe, and Japan, whereas in China, first strong increases were observed, followed by decreases after 2014.
Absorbing aerosol that can cause warming: OMI can provide information as from its ultraviolet (UV) channel it is possible to derive such absorbing capacity.
Long-term data record of tropospheric ozone has been established: Tropospheric ozone assessment is important as it is the third main anthropogenic greenhouse gas, and the fraction of ozone in the troposphere can be derived from the OMI data, either by itself alone or in combination with other instruments
OMI formaldehyde retrievals indicate increases of this trace gas over India and China, and a downward trend over the Amazonian forest, spatially correlated with areas affected by deforestation
OMI has been the first satellite instrument to be used for daily monitoring of volcanic emissions
OMI satellite products of Ozone total column has been used for data assimilation en IFS model by ECMWF

== References ==

== External links ==
OMI webpage at NASA.gov
OMI webpage at KNMI.nl
Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Internet Service (TEMIS)
https://docserver.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/repository/Mission/OMI/3.3_ScienceDataProductDocumentation/3.3.2_ProductRequirements_Designs/README.OMI_DUG.pdf