Citation | John Burrows is the international leader in probing atmospheric composition from space. He initiated and led the European remote sensing of atmospheric trace gases from space using differential optical absorption spectroscopy and retrieval techniques. He led the development of SCIAMACHY, GOME, GeoSCIA and more recent space borne instruments which have revolutionised our ability to observe the composition of the atmosphere, including global O3, NO2, CH4 CO2, CO, BrO, SO2,HCHO,IO,CHOCHO and many more. These techniques underpin global assessments of greenhouse gas emissions, photochemical oxidant chemistry and acidification, allowing country scale emissions and trends of key species to be quantified from space independently. These techniques reveal chemical processes in the arctic marine environment, over tropical rainforests and over megacities providing a unique overview of atmospheric chemistry and composition. |