Co-ordination of the Validation Activities for SCIAMACHY

Validation of SCIAMACHY is essential to ensure the quality of the measurements. The activities are co-ordinated by the SCIAMACHY Validation and Interpretation Group (SCIAVALIG).There are four distinct phases of validation of SCIAMACHY data products: the preparatory phase, the commissioning phase, the main validation phase and the long-term validation phase. We are currently in the main validation phase, which will last until the end of 2003.ENVISAT was successfully launched in March 2002. The commissioning phase lasted until six months after launch. After the functional testing, the first nominal measurements of the earth shine spectrum have been performed. The validation activities in this phase have focused on a thorough inspection of the level 1 data products and quick-look comparisons and consistency checks for level 2 products.