BackForwardInstrument:  MWTS-1 

Instrument details
Acronym MWTS-1
Full name Micro-Wave Temperature Sounder - 1
Purpose Temperature sounding in nearly-all-weather conditions
Short description
  • 4 frequencies, 4-channels [see detailed characteristics below]
  • Calibration monitoring here
Background

New development
Scanning Technique

Cross-track: 15 steps of 70 km s.s.p., swath 2200 km - Along-track: one line of 118 km every 16 s
Resolution 70 km at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Near-global coverage twice/day
Mass 38 kg Power 58 W Data Rate 9.6 kbps

 

Providing Agency CMA
Instrument Maturity Flown on operational programme
Utilization Period: 2008 to 2020
Last update: 2024-09-09
Detailed characteristics
No. Central frequency (GHz) Bandwidth (MHz) Polarisation NEΔT
1 50.30 180 V 0.5 K
2 53.596 ± 0.115 340 H 0.4 K
3 54.94 400 V 0.4 K
4 57.290 330 H 0.4 K
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 microwave radiometer
  • Cross-track, special or non-scanning microwave radiometer
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • MW sounders [in SSO]
  • MW sounder [in SSO]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Atmospheric temperature
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
Atmospheric temperature*3 - highVery coarse vertical resolution.A few MW channels in the 54 GHz band. Nearly all-weather sounding
Freezing level height in clouds4 - fairNo specific limitation.MW channels in the 54 GHz band. Inference from the temperature profile
Melting layer depth in clouds4 - fairNo specific limitation.MW channels in the 54 GHz band. Inference from the temperature profile