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Instrument details
Acronym
HCMR
Full name
Heat Capacity Mapping Radiometer
Purpose
Inference of surface soil moisture through measurement of the thermal inertia
Short description
Two-channel VIS/IR radiometer: 0.55-1.1 and 10.5-12.5 ?m
Background
Adaptation of the SCMR flown on Nimbus-5
Scanning Technique
Cross-track, swath 716 km
Resolution
500 m (VIS) or 600 m (IR) at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle
Global in 4 days (VIS) or 2 days (IR)
Mass
38.9 kg
Power
Data Rate
Providing Agency
NASA
Instrument Maturity
Utilization Period:
1978 to 1980-09-30
Last update:
2013-12-04
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 Passive optical radiometer or spectrometer Moderate resolution optical imager
WIGOS Subcomponents
No WIGOS subcomponents have been defined.
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
Secondary mission objectives Cloud cover Cloud top temperature Cloud type Sea surface temperature
Opportunity objectives Fire fractional cover Fire radiative power Fire temperature Wind (horizontal) Show all Show fewer
Tentative 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
Variable Relevance for measuring this variable Operational limitations Explanation
Cloud cover 4 - fair No specific limitation. VIS and TIR channels
Cloud top temperature 5 - marginal No specific limitation. TIR window channel(s)
Cloud type 4 - fair Daylight only. VIS and TIR channels
Fire fractional cover 4 - fair Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution. VIS and TIR channels
Fire radiative power 5 - marginal Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution. TIR channels
Fire temperature 5 - marginal Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution. TIR channels
Sea surface temperature 5 - marginal Cloud sensitive. TIR window channel(s) around 11 micrometers .
Sea-ice cover 5 - marginal Cloud sensitive. VIS and TIR channels
Snow cover 5 - marginal Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. VIS channel(s)
Soil moisture at surface 4 - fair Cloud sensitive.. Index only. VIS and TIR window channels. Soil moisture inferred from thermal inertia
Wind (horizontal) 5 - marginal Limited to high latitudes.. Cloud or water vapour tracers needed. TIR channel(s) around 11 micrometers window
Instrument: HCMR