WMO OSCAR | Details for Instrument VTPR

No JavaScript detected
Usage of this Website will be severly limited without JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript in your Browser.

Instrument: VTPR

Instrument details

Acronym	VTPR
Full name	Vertical Temperature Profile Radiometer
Purpose	Atmospheric temperature profile
Short description	8-channel TIR/FIR filter radiometer [see detailed characteristic below]
Background	Follow-on of ITPR flown on Nimbus-5
Scanning Technique	Cross-track, 23 IFOVs/scan, 4.8 lines/min (80 km/line), swath 1800 km
Resolution	55 km at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle	Global, once/day
Mass	23 kg	Power	33 W	Data Rate	256 bps

Providing Agency	NOAA
Instrument Maturity	Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period:	1973 to 1979
Last update:	2014-05-21

Detailed characteristics

Wavelength	Wave number	Bandwidth	NESR
18.69 μm	535.0 cm^-1	18 cm^-1	< 0.25 mW m^-2 sr^-1cm
14.96 μm	668.5 cm^-1	3.5 cm^-1	< 0.25 mW m^-2 sr^-1cm
14.77 μm	677.5 cm^-1	10 cm^-1	< 0.25 mW m^-2 sr^-1cm
14.38 μm	695.0 cm^-1	10 cm^-1	< 0.25 mW m^-2 sr^-1cm
14.12 μm	708.0 cm^-1	10 cm^-1	< 0.25 mW m^-2 sr^-1cm
13.79 μm	725.0 cm^-1	10 cm^-1	< 0.25 mW m^-2 sr^-1cm
13.38 μm	747.0 cm^-1	10 cm^-1	< 0.25 mW m^-2 sr^-1cm
11.97 μm	833.0 cm^-1	10 cm^-1	< 0.25 mW m^-2 sr^-1cm

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

NOAA 3rd generation / Improved TIROS Operational System (NOAA)
- NOAA-2 (see instrument status) Jan 1973 - Jan 1975
- NOAA-3 (see instrument status) Feb 1974 - Aug 1976
- NOAA-4 (see instrument status) Feb 1975 - Nov 1978
- NOAA-5 (see instrument status) Oct 1976 - Jul 1979

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

Atmospheric temperature
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)

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
Atmospheric temperature*	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Inaccurate in low troposphere.	Many TIR channels in the 15 micrometer band
Cloud cover	5 - marginal	Discontinuous coverage.	TIR channel(s)
Cloud top height	3 - high	Discontinuous coverage.	TIR channels in window and in CO2 band for atmospheric column above cloud top
Cloud top temperature	5 - marginal	Discontinuous coverage.	TIR window channel(s)
Sea surface temperature	5 - marginal	Cloud sensitive.	TIR window channel(s)
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)*	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.	TIR and FIR channels from the 11 micrometers window into the 18 micrometers water vapour rotational band
Upward long-wave irradiance at TOA	5 - marginal	Spectral interpolation needed.	TIR and FIR channels in the 11 micrometers window, and in water vapour and CO2 bands around 6.3, 15 and 18 micrometers