BackForwardInstrument:  DPC 

Instrument details
Acronym DPC
Full name Directional Polarization Camera
Purpose Aerosol and cloud microphysical parameters, Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)
Short description 8 VIS/NIR wavelengths, with 3 polarisations at 3 wavelengths; total: 14 channels [see detailed characteristics below]
Background Designed after POLDER flown on PARASOL and in advance of 3MI to be flown on EPS-SG
Scanning Technique 512 x 512 CCD arrays, 2400 km swath, each earth’s spot viewed from up to 9 directions as the satellite moves
Resolution 3.5 km at the s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Near-global coverage every day in daylight
Mass Power Data Rate 9.45 Mbps

 

Providing Agency CNSA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2018 to 2030
Last update: 2022-04-25
Detailed characteristics

Central wavelength

Bandwidth

No. of pol.

SNR at the expected input radiance

443 nm

20 nm

-

500

490 nm

20 nm

three

500

565 nm

20 nm

-

500

670 nm

20 nm

three

500

765 nm

40 nm

-

500

768 nm

20 nm

-

500

865 nm

40 nm

three

500

910 nm

20 nm

-

500
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 optical radiometer or spectrometer
  • Moderate resolution optical imager
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 2
  • Multi-angle, multi-polarization radiometers
  • Multi-angle, multi-polarization radiometer
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Aerosol Optical Depth
  • Aerosol column burden
  • Aerosol effective radius
  • Aerosol mass mixing ratio
  • Aerosol type
  • Aerosol volcanic ash
  • Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column
  • Biomass
  • Cloud cover
  • Cloud optical depth
  • Cloud top height
  • Cloud type
  • Earth surface albedo
  • Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)
  • Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)
  • Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA
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
Aerosol column burden*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth) and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol effective radius*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth) and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol mass mixing ratio*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth) and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol Optical Depth*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth) and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol type*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth) and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Biomass*5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. Biomass inferred from NDVI
Cloud cover*5 - marginalDaylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Cloud optical depth*4 - fairLow-density cloud only.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Cloud top height*5 - marginalDaylight only.NIR channels to estimate the total-column O2 above the cloud top as measured around 760 nm
Cloud type*5 - marginalDaylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Colour Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM)4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwith VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.VIS and NIR channels
Earth surface albedo*5 - marginalCloud sensitive.VIS channels
Fire fractional cover5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.. Daylight only.VIS channels
Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)*3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS channels including Red at 700 nm
Leaf Area Index (LAI)4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. LAI inferred from NDVI
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS and NIR channels
Ocean chlorophyll concentration 4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwith VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean
Ocean Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (DAC)4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwith VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean
Ocean suspended sediments concentration4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwith VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean
Oil spill cover5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS channels with narrow bandwidth
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)*3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS channels, range accurately sampled
Short-wave cloud reflectance5 - marginalNo specific limitation.VIS and NIR channels
Snow cover4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Soil moisture at surface5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. Soil moisture inferred from differential brightness
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.NIR channels in the bands of water vapour around 900 nm and 940 nm
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA*5 - marginalSpectral interpolation needed.. Information on BRDF needed.VIS and NIR channels
Aerosol volcanic ash*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level ashes
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level ashes
Sea-ice cover5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR (for contour enhancement) channels