Special issue  

MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding) has been measuring atmospheric middle-infrared limb-emission spectral radiances from the European Polar Satellite ENVISAT from 2002 to 2012. Several algorithms have been developed by the scientific community to process MIPAS data up to Level 2, which is to retrieve the vertical distribution profiles of many atmospheric minor constituents. Among these algorithms, the one developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) is of utmost importance as it delivers high-quality profiles of a large set of gases, retrieved from the measurements of the whole MIPAS mission. The papers included in the special issue deal with the most recent (and possibly the last) release of MIPAS/ENVISAT products obtained from the ESA Level 2 processor version 8. The papers deal with both the products and the algorithms employed to derive them from direct measurements. The algorithms are presented and assessed. The features of the Level 2 products are analyzed and the products themselves are validated by intercomparison with other independent co-located measurements.