Retrieval of atmospheric parameters from MIPAS/ENVISAT emission spectra at 5.3 um under non-LTE conditions

In (hopefully) 5 months ESA's polar platform ENVISAT will be launched. The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) is one of the core instruments and will continously record high resolution emission spectra of the Earth's atmosphere. Vertical profiles of temperature and various trace gases relevant to stratospheric chemistry are planned to be retrieved from the data. The talk will give a summary on the status of the algorithm development for the MIPAS data analysis carried out at IAA and IMK (Institut fuer Meteorologie und Klimaforschung, Germany). A main task of these activities at IAA is the correct treatment of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) in the retrieval of atmospheric parameters. Non-LTE specific problems in the MIPAS data analysis and their solutions will be discussed by the example of the atmospheric parameter retrieval from the 5.3 um region of the NO fundamental band.