WMO OSCAR | Details for Instrument MWRI (HY-2)

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Instrument: MWRI (HY-2)

Instrument details

Acronym	MWRI (HY-2)
Full name	Microwave Radiometer Imager
Purpose	All-weather sea-surface temperature and wind, and total-column water vapour
Short description	5 frequencies, 9 channels [see detailed characteristics below]
Background	New development
Scanning Technique	Conical, 55° zenith angle, swath 1600 km
Resolution	Corresponding to an antenna diameter of about 1.2 m (see table).
Coverage / Cycle	Daily global coverage
Mass		Power	Data Rate

Providing Agency	NSOAS
Instrument Maturity	Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period:	2011 to 2031
Last update:	2025-01-29

Detailed characteristics

Channel number	Central frequency (GHz)	Bandwidth (MHz)	Polarisations	NEΔT	IFOV	Pixel
1	6.6	350	V, H	0.5 K	80 x120 km	….. x …. km
2	10.7	250	V, H	0.5 K	50 x75 km	….. x …. km
3	18.7	250	V, H	0.5 K	30 x45 km	….. x …. km
4	23.8	400	V	0.5 K	24 x40 km	….. x …. km
5	37.0	1000	V, H	0.8 K	15 x22 km	….. x …. 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

Hai Yang 2 (NSOAS)
- HY-2A (see instrument status) Nov 2011 - Mar 2020
- HY-2B (see instrument status) Jan 2019 - 2025
- HY-2E (see instrument status) 2026 - 2031

Instrument classification

Earth observation instrument
Passive microwave radiometer
Conical scanning microwave radiometer

WIGOS Subcomponents

Subcomponent 1
MW imagery for surface temperature
MW imager for surface temperature

Mission objectives

Primary mission objectives

Sea surface temperature
Sea-ice cover
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.

Search:

Variable	Relevance for measuring this variable	Operational limitations	Explanation
Snow status (wet/dry)	2 - very high	Coarse spatial resolution.	MW channels around 19 and 37 GHz
Snow water equivalent	2 - very high	Coarse spatial resolution.. Ground stations network needed.	MW channels around 19 and 37 GHz
Wind speed (near surface)*	2 - very high	Over sea only.	MW channels around 7, 10, 19 and 37 GHz
Biomass	3 - high	Index only.. Coarse spatial resolution.	Derived from differential effect of vegetation across MW frequencies around 7, 10 and 19 GHz
Cloud liquid water (CLW)	3 - high	No specific limitation.	MW channels around 37 GHz
Cloud liquid water (CLW) total column	3 - high	No specific limitation.	MW channels around 37 GHz
Long-wave Earth surface emissivity	3 - high	Long time series needed.	MW channels around 7, 10, 19 and 37 GHz. Emissivity across this MW range inferred by statistical analysis
Sea surface temperature*	3 - high	No specific limitation.	MW channels around 7 and 10 GHz
Snow cover	3 - high	Coarse spatial resolution.	MW channels around 19 and 37 GHz
Soil moisture at surface	3 - high	Coarse spatial resolution.. Affected by vegetation.	MW channels around 7 and 10 GHz
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)	3 - high	Over sea only.	MW channel(s) in the water vapour band around 23 GHz
Sea-ice cover*	4 - fair	No specific limitation.	MW channels around 7, 10, 19 and 37 GHz
Soil moisture (in the roots region)	4 - fair	Coarse spatial resolution.. Affected by vegetation.	MW channels around 7 GHz. Assimilation process required
Accumulated precipitation	5 - marginal	Poor time sampling.. Time sampling to be interpolated by GEO.	MW channels around 10, 19, 23 and 37 GHz
Land surface temperature	5 - marginal	Coarse spatial resolution.	MW channels around 7 and 10 GHz
Precipitation intensity at surface (liquid or solid)	5 - marginal	Inaccurate over land.	MW channels around 10, 19, 23, and 37 GHz; 10 GHz very important for heavy precipitation over the sea
Sea-ice type	5 - marginal	No specific limitation.	MW channels around 7, 10, 19 and 37 GHz. Type interpreted as age/roughness

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