BackForwardInstrument:  MicroCarb 

Instrument details
Acronym MicroCarb
Full name MicroCarb
Purpose CO2 profile
Short description Spectrometer with four very-narrow NIR/SWIR bands, centred on 1608 and 2037 nm (CO2); and 764 nm (O2) and 1670 (CH4). Resolving power λ/Δλ = 25000 [see detailed characteristics below]. There is also an imager at 625 nm wavelength and 200 m footprint.
Background Similar to OCO, with an additional O2 band at 1273 nm.
Scanning Technique Cross-track: three parallel 4.5-km IFOV's for a comprehensive 13.5 km swath. Along-track sampling at 9.km intervals. Over land the pointing is close to nadir, over ocean it is tilted towards sunglint. There are various viewing modes.
Resolution 4.5 km at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Nearly-global in 21 days
Mass 60 kg Power 50 W Data Rate

 

Providing Agency CNES
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2025 to 2030
Last update: 2023-04-17
Detailed characteristics

Spectral bands 

Resolving power (λ/∆λ)

SNR

Species

764-768 nm

25000

600

O2

1264-1282 nm

25000

900

O2

1602-1609 nm

25000

600

CO2

1660-1672 nm

25000

670

CH4

2037-2065 nm

25000

280

CO2
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
  • Cross-nadir shortwave (UV/VIS) sounder
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • UV/VIS/NIR sounders, nadir and limb
  • UV/VIS/NIR nadir sounder
  • Subcomponent 2
  • NIR/SWIR imaging spectroscopy
  • NIR/SWIR imaging spectrometer
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • CO2 mole fraction
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
CO2 mole fraction*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Very-high resolution SWIR spectrometry CO2 lines around 1.6 and 2.1 micrometers. Specifically designed for CO2.