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: "Satellite observations put stratospheric methane loss higher than models predicted"
A recent publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences entitled Global stratospheric methane loss from satellite observations has shown that incorporating ACE satellite data helps reconcile the top-down and bottom-up estimates of the global methane budget. A press release in Phys.org provides more information on this important study and includes the importance of this satellite data.
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 data featured in Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol review of HFC-23
ACE data is featured prominently in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 2025 Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol review of HFC-23 as the sole source of satellite data. This was based on the recent publication by Dodangodage, et al. entitled HFC-23 from updated Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) retrievals. Click the title to go to the UNEP Report.
Events
53rd ACE Science Meeting
The next ACE Science Meeting will be held as a hybrid in person and online meeting, at the University of Waterloo and via WebEx. This meeting will focus primarily on the achievements, current work, and future plans of the ACE (SCISAT) satellite mission. In addition to the usual speakers from ACE, speakers from other missions, space agencies, modelling groups, and validation teams are invited to participate. Potential new users of ACE data are particularly encouraged to attend.
Time: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Place: University of Waterloo (Room DC-1304)
Online meeting via WebEx