Atmospheric Trace Gas Measurements in the Tropics Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometry has been used for ground-based solar absorption, laboratory and flux measurements, to study the atmospheric composition, as well as physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere. The solar absorption FTIR measurements have been performed in Paramaribo, Suriname (5.8 ◦ N, 55.2 ◦ W) between September 2004 and November 2007 and represent the first remote sensing measurements in the inner tropics over several years. These measurements are of great importance for a better understanding of global climate and physical and chemical processes of the tropical atmosphere as well as for satellite validations. Vertical profiles of carbon monoxide (CO) and ethane (C2H6) and total columns of methane (CH4), hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and acetylene (C2H2) have been retrieved from the FTIR spectra. The quality of the methane retrieval was limited by the available spectroscopic data. Laboratory cell-based FTIR measurements have been performed to correct the methane spectroscopy in the infrared spectral region, which significantly improved the retrieval of methane from SCIAMACHY and FTIR spectra. The retrieva