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Instrument details
Acronym
SIRS-A
Full name
Satellite Infra-Red Spectrometer
Purpose
Atmospheric temperature profile
Short description
Grating spectrometer utilised to select 8 spectral channels, 0.1 µm wide, centred on 11.12, 13.33, 14.01, 14.16, 14.31, 14.45, 14.76 and 14.95 µm
Background
Prototype of future operational IR sounders
Scanning Technique
Nadir only
Resolution
220 km
Coverage / Cycle
Global in one week
Mass
41 kg
Power
24 W
Data Rate
100 bps
Providing Agency
NASA
Instrument Maturity
Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period:
1969 to 1972-01-22
Last update:
2012-09-13
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
Instrument classification
Earth observation instrument Passive optical radiometer or spectrometer Cross-nadir infrared sounder, possibly including VIS channels
WIGOS Subcomponents
No WIGOS subcomponents have been defined.
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
Secondary mission objectives
Opportunity objectives Cloud cover Cloud top height Cloud top temperature Show all Show fewer
Tentative 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
Variable Relevance for measuring this variable Operational limitations Explanation
Atmospheric temperature 3 - high Cloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Inaccurate in low troposphere.. Along-track only. Many TIR channels in the 15 micrometer band
Cloud cover 5 - marginal Discontinuous coverage.. Along-track only. TIR channel(s)
Cloud top height 3 - high Discontinuous coverage.. Along-track only. TIR channels in window and in CO2 band for atmospheric column above cloud top
Cloud top temperature 5 - marginal Discontinuous coverage.. Along-track only. TIR window channel(s)
Sea surface temperature 5 - marginal Cloud sensitive.. Along-track only. TIR window channel(s)
Instrument: SIRS-A