OSCAR

The sorting column describes how the instruments, by design, have the potential to contribute to certain pre-determined capabilities, assuming nominal operation of space and ground segments. For this particular capability, instrument performance is considered to be driven by:

• the spatial resolution, determined by the antenna size;
• the spectral coverage, in the C, X, K, Ka, W bands and possibly above, that determines the range of geophysical variables that can be observed;
• the number of polarisations (for conical scanning, the constant incidence angle simplifies polarisation information handling).

 Sorting criteria and colour code:

1. Conical-scanning large-antenna imager or imaging/sounder.
2. Conical- or cross-track scanning sounder or imaging/sounder with bands 54 and/or 183 GHz.
3. Conical-scanning imager with channels up to around 90 GHz.
4. Conical-scanning imager with channels up to around 23 GHz or up to around 37 GHz.
5. Conical or cross-track scanning radiometer for the L-band around 1.4 GHz.