WMO OSCAR | Details for Instrument MWS

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Instrument: MWS

Instrument details

Acronym	MWS
Full name	Micro-Wave Sounder
Purpose	Temperature and humidity sounding in nearly-all-weather conditions. Also precipitation
Short description	24 channels including bands 54 GHz and 183 GHz. All single polarisation (either H or V) [see detailed characteristics below] Monitoring and calibration information here
Background	To replace AMSU-A and MHS flown on MetOp A to C
Scanning Technique	Cross-track, swath 2300 km
Resolution	17 km for channels 89 to 229 GHz, 20 km for channels 50 to 58 GHz, 40 km for channels 23.8 and 31.4 GHz
Coverage / Cycle	Near-global coverage twice/day
Mass	132 kg	Power	137 W	Data Rate	30 kbps

Providing Agency	ESA
Instrument Maturity	Demonstrated by simulations
Utilization Period:	2025 to 2047
Last update:	2024-09-23

Detailed characteristics

No.	Central frequency (GHz)	Bandwidth (MHz)	Polarisation	NEΔT	IFOV at s.s.p.
1	23.8	270	V or H	0.25 K	40 km
2	31.4	180	V or H	0.35 K	40 km
3	50.3	180	V or H	0.5 K	20 km
4	52.8	400	V or H	0.35 K	20 km
5	53.246±0.08	2x140	H or V	0.4 K	20 km
6	53.596±0.115	2x170	H	0.4 K	20 km
7	53.948±0.081	2x142	H or V	0.4 K	20 km
8	54.4	400	H or V	0.35 K	20 km
9	54.94	400	V or H	0.35 K	20 km
10	55.5	330	H or V	0.4 K	20 km
11	57.290344	330	H or V	0.4 K	20 km
12	57.290344±0.217	2x78	H or V	0.55 K	20 km
13	57.290344±0.3222±0.048	4x36	H or V	0.6 K	20 km
14	57.290344±0.3222±0.022	4x16	H or V	0.9 K	20 km
15	57.290344±0.3222±0.010	4x8	H or V	1.2 K	20 km
16	57.290344±0.3222±0.0045	4x3	H or V	2.0 K	20 km
17	89	4000	V or H	0.25 K	17 km
18	164-167	2x1350	V or H	0.5 K	17 km
19	183.311±7.0	2x2000	V or H	0.4 K	17 km
20	183.311±4.5	2x2000	V or H	0.4 K	17 km
21	183.311±3.0	2x1000	V or H	0.6 K	17 km
22	183.311±1.8	2x1000	V or H	0.6 K	17 km
23	183.311±1.0	2x500	V or H	0.75 K	17 km
24	229.0	2000	V or H	0.70 K	17 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

EPS Second Generation (EUMETSAT)
- Metop-SG-A1 (see instrument status) 2025 - 2033
- Metop-SG-A2 (see instrument status) 2032 - 2040
- Metop-SG-A3 (see instrument status) 2039 - 2047

Instrument classification

Earth observation instrument
Passive microwave radiometer
Cross-track, special or non-scanning microwave radiometer

WIGOS Subcomponents

Subcomponent 1
MW sounders [in SSO]
MW sounder [in SSO]
MW cross-track upper stratospheric and mesospheric sounders
MW cross-track upper stratospheric and mesospheric sounder

Mission objectives

Primary mission objectives

Atmospheric temperature
Specific humidity

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
Atmospheric temperature*	1 - primary	Coarse vertical resolution.	Many MW channels in the 54 GHz band. Nearly all-weather sounding
Cloud ice	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	MW channels around 37 and 90 GHz, in 54 and 183 GHz bands, and >200 GHz (e.g., 229 GHz) specifically sensitive to ice
Cloud ice Total Column	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	MW channels around 37 and 90 GHz, in 54 and 183 GHz bands, and >200 GHz (e.g., 229 GHz) specifically sensitive to ice
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	MW channel(s) in the water vapour bands around 23 and 183 GHz
Cloud ice effective radius	2 - very high	No specific limitation.	MW channels around 37 and 90 GHz, and in bands 54 and 183 GHz
Cloud liquid water (CLW)	2 - very high	No specific limitation.	MW channels around 37 and 90 GHz, and in bands 54 and 183 GHz
Cloud liquid water (CLW) total column	2 - very high	No specific limitation.	MW channels around 37 and 90 GHz, and in bands 54 and 183 GHz
Specific humidity*	2 - very high	Coarse vertical resolution.	MW channels in the 183 GHz band, and 54 GHz for temperature and liquid water corrections
Freezing level height in clouds	3 - high	No specific limitation.	MW channels in the 54 GHz band. Inference from the temperature profile
Melting layer depth in clouds	3 - high	No specific limitation.	MW channels in the 54 GHz band. Inference from the temperature profile
Precipitation intensity at surface (liquid or solid)	4 - fair	No specific limitation.	MW channels in the 54 and 183 GHz bands. Suitable for solid and liquid precipitation over sea and land, Insensitive to surface emissivity
Cloud drop effective radius	5 - marginal	Highly indirect.	MW channels around 37 and 90 GHz, and in 54 GHz band
Downward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface	5 - marginal	Highly indirect.	MW channels in bands 54 and 183 GHz to account for downward cloud radiation
Upward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface	5 - marginal	Highly indirect.	MW channels is the 54 and 183 GHz bands to infer the impact of clouds on the upward LW radiation

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