WMO OSCAR | Details for Instrument SESS/SSUSI

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Instrument: SESS/SSUSI

Instrument details

Acronym	SESS/SSUSI
Full name	SESS / Special Sensor Ultraviolet Spectrographic Imager
Purpose	To measure UV radiation from the Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere, also measuring visible radiation (airglow and terrestrial albedo).
Short description	Assemblage of a scanning Imaging spectrometer and a nadir-looking photometer system. The spectrometer has 160 spectral channels in 5 selectable sub-ranges of the Far UV interval from 115 to 180 nm, inclusive of the H Lyman-alpha line at 121.6 nm. The photometer monitors airglow at 427.8 and 630 nm and the terrestrial albedo near 630 nm
Background	Part of the SESS (Space Environment Sensor Suite) package
Scanning Technique	Scanning spectrometer: cross-track scan up to beyond the horizon opposite to sun, till tangent altitude of 520 km; fast scanning along-track of 16 IFOVs. Swath: 3000 km. Photometer: nadir only
Resolution	UV: 10 km at s.s.p., 300 km for limb viewing; VIS: 25 km at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle	Global, daily. UV sampled at 22 s intervals, VIS at 180 s intervals
Mass		Power	Data Rate

Providing Agency	DoD
Instrument Maturity	Flown on operational programme
Utilization Period:	2004 to 2022
Last update:	2021-12-09

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

Defense Meteorological Satellite Program - Block 5D-3 (DoD)
- DMSP-F16 (see instrument status) Oct 2003 - 2019
- DMSP-F17 (see instrument status) Nov 2006 - 2022
- DMSP-F18 (see instrument status) Oct 2009 - 2022
- DMSP-F19 (see instrument status) Apr 2014 - Feb 2016

Instrument classification

Solar and space environment monitors
Space radiometer or spectrometer

WIGOS Subcomponents

Subcomponent 2
Magnetospheric energetic particles and magnetometers
Ionospheric electron density sensor [in LEO and cross magnetosphere]
Ionospheric plasma density
Subcomponent 3
UV spectral imagery (e.g. GEO, HEO, MEO, LEO)
UV spectral imager [from GEO, HEO, MEO, LEO]

Mission objectives

Primary mission objectives

Aurora

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.

Variable	Relevance for measuring this variable	Operational limitations	Explanation
UV flux spectrum	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	Earth's limb observed, high spectral resolution
UV sky image	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	Earth's limb observed, spectrometry with high spatial resolution
Aurora*	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	Observed down to Earth's surface in UV and VIS
Ionospheric plasma density	5 - marginal	No specific limitation.	UV imaging spectrometer measuring ionospheric plasma density in the Earth's limb
Electron Density	5 - marginal	No specific limitation.	UV spectrometry of the Earth's limb