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Introduction
Since the 1950's it has become increasingly clear that human activities are modifying the composition of the Earth's atmosphere.
Concentrations of chemically-active and man-made gases containing chlorine, bromine, and fluorine in the stratosphere have increased dramatically and cause destruction of ozone which is needed to shield the Earth from harmful ultra-violet radiation.
Increases in greenhouse gas concentrations are also rising rapidly and threaten to alter our climate.
Understanding how changes to the atmosphere such as these may affect our climate is not clear. Accurate and precise measurements are needed to unravel complex and interactive relationships between chemical, radiative, and dynamical processes in the atmosphere, ocean, and on land.
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The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III satellite mission is an important part of NASA's Earth Observation System and is designed to provide global, long-term measurements of key components of the Earth's atmosphere.
The most important of these are the vertical distribution of aerosols, ozone, and water vapor in the upper troposphere through the stratosphere.
Measurement Objectives
The primary scientific objective of the three SAGE III missions is to obtain high quality, global measurements of key components of atmospheric composition (Table 1) and their long-term variability.
These measurements are vital inputs to the global scientific community for improved understanding of climate, climate change, and human-induced ozone trends.
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