Présentation |
The
RADIBAL and microRADIBAL instruments are two radiometers that
can be flown on a stratospheric platform to study the stratospheric
aerosols. They measure, in the near infra-red range, the radiance
and polarization of the sunlight scattered by the atmosphere,
gas and aerosols, in a horizontal plane.

microRADIBAL Radiometer
The photopolarimeter RADIBAL [RADIomètre
BALlon, Herman et al., 1986] was developed by the LOA in 1983, and
microRADIBAL was developed in 1998. It is a modified version of
RADIBAL: the instrument has been miniaturized, to allow an easier
launch without an auxiliary balloon, and has been upgraded. |
Owing
to the rotation of the gondola around its vertical axis, the observations
are performed under various directions. The measurements provide
thus diagrams of the radiance versus scattering angle at several
altitudes. The aerosol signature, derived from the radiance measurements,
is modeled via radiative transfer codes. The best agreement obtained
between the measured and modeled signatures enables to characterize
the observed particles.

microRADIBAL in its polystyrene shell
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