New satellite instruments for GHRSST
The following links point to pages describing new satellite instruments relevant to SST and GHRSST
ESA Sentinel-3 Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR/ATSR-4)
This mission, devoted to provision of operational oceanographic services has been baselined within GMES. It shall provide on an operational basis, data in support of services that have been developed since 1991 with ERS, and ENVISAT. The altimeter part of the mission will further complement that of Jason and others to contribute to a worldwide operational oceanographic service. Taking into account the global context and in particular the European needs, capabilities and plans, the Sentinel 3 should include first the elements which, being well defined and already exploited on a near operational basis, have no guaranteed operational continuity beyond ENVISAT. These elements are the high inclination altimeter and the visible-infrared element for ocean colour and sea-surface temperature based products.
In addition, activities related to the accommodation of the IR sensor on Sentinel 3 will be added during the second part of the definition study. See http://www.esa.int/esaLP/SEMZHM0DU8E_LPgmes_0.html for more information. Mission requirements can be found at http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/GMES/GMES_Sentinel3_MRD_V2.0_update.pdf
JAXA Global Change Observation Mission - Water (GCOM-W) Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer II (AMSR-II)
The "Global Change Observation Mission" (GCOM) aims to construct, use, and verify systems that enable continuous global-scale observations (for 10 to 15 years) of effective geophysical parameters for elucidating global climate change and water circulation mechanisms. Water circulation changes will be observed by a microwave radiometer onboard the GCOM-W (Water) satellite (scheduled to be launched in Japan Fiscal Year 2011).
The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) is a sensor to observe radiometers, or microwaves emitted naturally from the ground, sea surface and atmosphere, using 6 different frequency bands ranging from 7 GHz to 89 GHz. The strength of a natural microwave is determined by its characteristics and moisture, including the surface condition and temperature of the material. Although it depends on the frequency, the microwave is very weak. AMSR2 will detect such weak microwaves at an altitude of 700 kilometers and measure the strength of them with a very high accuracy. For example, by measuring the strength of a microwave emitted from the sea surface with the AMSR2, we can understand the water temperature of the sea surface to an accuracy of 0.5 degrees Celsius. See http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/gcom/index_e.html for more information.
JAXA Global Change Observation Mission - Cliumate (GCOM-C) Second-generation Global Imager (SGLI)
GCOM-C1 will carry SGLI as the sole mission onboard instrument. The satellite will orbit at an altitude of about 800km; the descending node local time will be 1030, to maintain a wide observation swath and reduce cloud interference over land.
SGLI consists of two major components: the Infrared Scanner (IRS) and the Visible and Near-infrared Radiometer (VNR). the Infrared Scanner (IRS) and the Visible and Near-infrared Radiometer (VNR). An overview of the SGLI instrument is shown in Fig. 5 for the entire radiometer layout, IRS, and VNR components. Also, requirements for sensor performance are listed in Tables 4 and 5. VNR can be further divided into two components: VNR-Non Polarized (VNR-NP) and VNR-Polarized (VNR-P). VNR-NP and VNR-P are the 11-channel multi-band radiometer and the polarimeter with three polarization angles (0, 60, and 120 degrees). VNR-P has a tilting function to meet the scatter angle requirement from aerosol observation. The IRS is an infrared radiometer covering wavelengths from 1μm to 12μm. It consists of short infrared (SW I1.05 to 2.21μm) and thermal infrared (TIR 10.8 and 12.0μm) sensors. It employs a scanning mirror system with a 45-degree tilted flat mirror rotating continuously to realize an 80-degree observation swath and calibration measurement in every scan. IR FoV will be 1km at nadir and 250m for visible channels. See http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/gcom/index_e.html for more information.
National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Visible Infrared Imager / Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)
The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is a satellite system used to monitor global environmental conditions, and collect and disseminate data related to: weather, atmosphere, oceans, land and near-space environment.
The Visible Infrared Imager / Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) will combine the radiometric accuracy of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) currently flown on the NOAA polar orbiters with the high (0.65 kilometer) spatial resolution of the Operational Linescan System (OLS) flown on DMSP. The VIIRS will provide imagery of clouds under sunlit conditions in about a dozen visible channels (or frequency bands), as well as provide coverage in a number of infrared channels for night and day cloud imaging applications.
VIIRS will have multichannel imaging capabilities to support the acquisition of high resolution atmospheric imagery and generation of a variety of applied products including: visible and infrared imaging of hurricanes and detection of fires, smoke, and atmospheric aerosols.
VIIRS will also provide capabilities to produce higher resolution and more accurate measurements of sea surface temperature than currently available from the heritage AVHRR instrument on POES, as well as an operational capability for ocean color observations and a variety of derived ocean color products.See http://www.ipo.noaa.gov/index.html for more details.
(Last Updated: 23-07-2008)