The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) is a satellite mission on board the Canadian satellite SCISAT that takes measurements of the Earth's atmosphere. Originally planned to have a two-year lifetime, ACE performs flawlessly 20 years on.
ACE uses Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of sunlight during sunrise and sunset to determine the abundance of 46 atmospheric molecules associated with ozone depletion, air pollution, and climate change.
All these mission data products are produced in the Chemistry Department at the University of Waterloo at the ACE Science Operations Centre (SOC). The SOC analyzes the ACE infrared spectra and distributes their data products to hundreds of users around the world.
Dr. Peter Bernath is the Mission Scientist and this mission involves the collaboration of members from several universities, industries and other organizations in Canada and around the world. Funding for the ACE mission is primarily provided by the Canadian Space Agency.
With 46+ atmospheric molecules measured over 20 years, ACE stands as Canada's most successful scientific satellite mission.
SCISAT was launched on August 13, 2003 (UTC time) and has been measuring data since February, 2004. The SCISAT mission originally had a 2-year lifetime, but has far exceeded that!
The most recent ACE-FTS dataset, version 5, has over 20 years of atmospheric data for 46 molecules, plus isotopologues and line-of-sight winds.
SCISAT has orbited the Earth over 110,000 times!
News
ACE in the news: "Protecting what’s above"
The University of Waterloo published a news report on our research!
"Celebrating ACE’s contributions to atmospheric monitoring on World Ozone Day"
ACE Celebrates it's 22nd Year in Orbit
On August 13, 2023 (UTC time), the satellite SCISAT was launched. 22 years later, SCISAT performs flawlessly and the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) continues to provide data users with important atmospheric measurements of over 46 molecules.
ACE featured in "Fifth edition of Spectra of Atoms and Molecules" textbook
The fifth edition of Spectra of Atoms and Molecules (Oxford University Press, 2025) is an invaluable companion for the ACE mission. For example, the book has a chapter on spectra of clouds and aerosols based on ACE data.
