Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is one of the key species in tropospheric ozone formation, and also contributes to acid rain formation. Sources of nitrogen oxides (NOx =NO+NO2) are both natural (lightning, soils, fires) and anthropogenic (fossil fuel use, biomass burning), the latter dominating the emissions in large parts of the world.

Measurements of nitrogen oxides rely mainly on in-situ instrumentation, often as part of national pollution monitoring networks. In the last years, measurements from UV/visible satellite instruments such as GOME and SCIAMACHY have started to provide global maps of tropospheric NO2 which can be used for pollution monitoring, emission estimates and observation of large scale pollution transport events.

In this talk, an overview will be given on measurements of tropospheric NO2 from space with a very short introduction to instruments, measurements, and data analysis. This will be followed by a number of examples and applications including recent results obtained at the institute on shipping emissions and changes in global NO2 concentrations, and an outlook to future developments.