Part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Greenhouse Gases (GHG) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project and the Climate Research Data Package Number 3 (CRDP#3), the XCH4 SCI product comprises a level 2, column-averaged dry-air mole fraction (mixing ratio) for methane (CH4). The product has been produced using data acquired from the SWIR spectra (channel 6) of the SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY) on board the European Space Agency's environmental research satellite ENVISAT.

This product has been derived by applying the IMAP-DOAS algorithm developed at the University of Heidelberg and SRON to the SCIAMACHY data. This procedure and the algorithms validity are thoroughly described in Frankenberg et al (2011). A second product is also available which has been generated using the Weighting Function Modified DOAS (WFM-DOAS) algorithm.

The data product is stored per orbit in a single NetCDF4 file. Retrieval results are provided for the individual SCIAMACHY spatial footprints, no averaging having been applied. The product file contains the key products and information relevant to using the data, such as the vertical layering and averaging kernels. For further details on the product, including the IMAP algorithm and the SCIAMACHY instrument, please see the associated product user guide (PUG) or the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document in the documentation section.

The GHG-CCI team encourage all users of their products to register with them to receive information on any updates or issues regarding the data products and to receive notification of new product releases. To register, please use the following link: http://www.iup.uni-bremen.de/sciamachy/NIR_NADIR_WFM_DOAS/CRDP_REG/