BackForwardInstrument:  SW spectrometer 

Instrument details
Acronym SW spectrometer
Full name Short-wave Spectrometer
Purpose Benchmark data for climate monitoring: extended spectrum towards Space
Short description Range 0.32-2.3 μm, spectral resolution 4 nm. radiometric accuracy 0.3 %
Background New development
Scanning Technique Nadir only.
Resolution 100 km
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage in 1 month for 100 km average spacing
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency NASA
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: TBD
Last update: 2018-02-06
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 shortwave (UV/VIS) sounder
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • UV/VIS/NIR sounders, nadir and limb
  • UV/VIS/NIR nadir sounder
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Earth surface albedo
  • Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)
  • Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA
  • Upward spectral radiance at TOA
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
Aerosol column burden2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.UV (for absorbing aerosol), VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol
Aerosol effective radius2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
Aerosol mass mixing ratio2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
Aerosol Optical Depth2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol
Aerosol type2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.UV spectrometry for absorbing aerosol
Cloud cover4 - fairDaylight only.. Along-track only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectroscopy
Cloud drop effective radius4 - fairAt cloud top.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Cloud ice effective radius4 - fairAt cloud top.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Cloud optical depth2 - very highLow-density cloud only.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Earth surface albedo*4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Along-track only.VIS spectrometry, range fully covered
Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Along-track only.VIS spectrometry including Red at 700 nm
O3 Total Column2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Ozone lines in the bands around 260 nm (Hartley) and/or 340 nm (Huggins) and 600 nm (Chappuis)
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Along-track only.VIS spectrometry, range fully covered
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)*5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.NIR spectrometry covering the 940 nm band
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA*3 - highInformation on BRDF needed.. Along-track only.UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Upward spectral radiance at TOA*4 - fairMissing all Long-waves.. Along-track only.UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Aerosol volcanic ash2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.UV (specifically sensitive to ash), VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level ashl
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Along-track only.UV (specifically sensitive to ash), VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level ashl