BackForwardInstrument:  Delta-2D 

Instrument details
Acronym Delta-2D
Full name Scanning Microwave Radiometer
Purpose All-weather sea-surface temperature, sea ice, surface soil moisture, precipitable water
Short description 4-frequency / 8-channel MW radiometer, dual polarisation at each frequency
Background Flown on the last satellite of the Okean series
Scanning Technique Conical, 40° off-nadir, swath 1130 km
Resolution Ranging with frequency from 20 to 100 km, consistently with an antenna diameter of 70 cm
Coverage / Cycle Global in 1.5 days
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency Roscosmos
Instrument Maturity Flown on operational programme
Utilization Period: 1999 to 2000
Last update: 2012-09-03
Detailed characteristics
Central frequency Bandwidth Polarisations NEΔT IFOV Pixel
6.9 GHz …. MHz V, H 0.1 K 91x120 km 40x60 km
13.0 GHz …. MHz V, H 0.1 K 49x65 km 20x20 km
22.3 GHz .... MHz V, H 0.15 K 28x37 km 10x10 km
37.5 GHz .... MHz V, H 0.15 K 17x21 km 10x10 km
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Passive microwave radiometer
  • Conical scanning microwave radiometer
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • MW imagery [in SSO]
  • MW imager [in SSO]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Sea surface temperature
  • Wind speed (near surface)
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Accumulated precipitation5 - marginalPoor time sampling.. Time sampling to be interpolated by GEO.MW channels around 19, 23 and 37 GHz
Cloud liquid water (CLW)3 - highNo specific limitation.MW channels around 37 GHz
Cloud liquid water (CLW) total column3 - highNo specific limitation.MW channels around 37 GHz
Land surface temperature5 - marginalCoarse spatial resolution.MW channels around 7 GHz
Precipitation intensity at surface (liquid or solid)5 - marginalInaccurate over land.MW channels around 19, 23 and 37 GHz
Sea surface temperature*4 - fairNo specific limitation.MW channels around 7 GHz
Snow cover3 - highCoarse spatial resolution.MW channels around 19 and 37 GHz
Snow status (wet/dry)2 - very highCoarse spatial resolution.MW channels around 19 and 37 GHz
Snow water equivalent2 - very highCoarse spatial resolution.. Ground stations network needed.MW channels around 19 and 37 GHz
Soil moisture (in the roots region)4 - fairCoarse spatial resolution.. Affected by vegetation.MW channels around 7 GHz. Assimilation process required
Soil moisture at surface3 - highCoarse spatial resolution.. Affected by vegetation.MW channels around 7 GHz
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)3 - highOver sea only.MW channel(s) in the water vapour band around 23 GHz
Wind speed (near surface)*3 - highOver sea only.MW channels around 7, 19 and 37 GHz