MIPAS has been designed to provide global observations of atmospheric trace species. These observations will contribute to improved understanding in stratospheric chemistry, global climatotlogy, atmospheric dynamics and upper tropospheric chemistry. Distributions of aerosol particles, tropospheric cirrus clouds and stratospheric ice clouds may also be derived from MIPAS data. Species which may be measured by MIPAS are listed below. (However this list is not exhaustive.)
| Temperature | O3 | N2O | NO2 |
| HNO3 | H2O | CH4 | - |
| N2O5 | ClO | HOCl |
| ClONO2 | NO | HNO4 |
| HCN | NH3 | CFC11 |
| CFC12 | CFC14 | CFC22 |
| CCl4 | COF2 | H2O2 |
| C2H2 | C2H6 | OCS |
| SO2 | SF6 | Aerosol |
Last modified: 06JUN08 AD