During the Earth-1 Galileo flyby (December 1990), the Near-Infrared Ma
pping Spectrometer (NIMS) experiment investigated the illuminated side
of the Earth in the spectral range 0.7-5.2 mu m. Mosaics of the entir
e terrestrial globe were recorded with a spatial resolution ranging fr
om 100 to 500 km. From these spectra, information is retrieved upon th
e large-scale temperature structure in the stratosphere and in the mes
osphere (0-70 km altitude range) from the inversion of the CO2 bands a
t 4.3 and 4.8 mu m. These data also permit monitoring of the cloud tem
peratures, and derivation of the abundances of several minor atmospher
ic constituents (H2O, CO, N2O, CH4 and O-3). These observations consti
tute a continuation of the study of the atmospheres of the three plane
ts (i.e. Venus, the Earth and Jupiter) targeted by the Galileo spacecr
aft during its mission. Observing these atmospheres with the NIMS inst
rument in the near-infrared will provide a unique data set, useful for
comparative planetary studies.