BackForwardInstrument:  GNSS-R (MuSat) 

Instrument details
Acronym GNSS-R (MuSat)
Full name GNSS Reflectometer for MuSat
Purpose To observe ocean surface wind and soil moisture, upper atmosphere temperature and ionospheric total electron content.
Short description

A dual polarisation, dual frequency L1/L5 bands GNSS Receiver. It can view reflected signal from surface, in occultation mode for bending angles and also to zenith for ionospheric TEC and scintillation.
Background

Based on HydroGNSS
Scanning Technique

Views across track and 28 deg to nadir for reflected signal and to zenith.
Resolution 3 km for soil moisture
Coverage / Cycle The revisit time will depend on the number of satellites in constellation.
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency MUON SPACE
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: 2024 to 2031
Last update: 2024-04-02
Detailed characteristics
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
  • Active and radio-occultation sensor
  • GNSS radio-occultation
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 2
  • GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R) missions, passive MW, SAR
  • Constellation of GNSS receivers [for reflectometry]
  • Magnetospheric energetic particles and magnetometers
  • Ionospheric electron density sensor [in LEO and cross magnetosphere]
  • Subcomponent 4
  • GNSS radio occultation (commercial)
  • GNSS radio occultation constellation (commercial)
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Atmospheric density
  • Electron Density
  • Soil moisture (in the roots region)
  • 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
Geoid4 - fairHighly indirect.Radio-occultation processing implies precise orbitography. Geoid derived from multi-temporal analysis
Gravity field5 - marginalHighly indirect.Radio-occultation processing implies precise orbitography. Gravity field derived from multi-temporal analysis
Precipitation intensity at surface (liquid or solid)5 - marginalHeavy precipitation onlyPrecipitation detected by de-polarisation measurement (experimental)
Wind speed (near surface)*5 - marginalOver sea only.. Infrequent coverage.Wind speed estimated from the intensity of signals from different incidence angles
Atmospheric density*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.Measuring atmospheric density