
CEOS Instrument: Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A
Instrument: | AMSU-A |
Agencies: | NOAA [Primary] |
  | UKSA |
Missions: | NOAA-16 |
  | NOAA-17 |
  | NOAA-18 |
  | NOAA-15 |
  | Metop-B |
  | Metop-C |
  | Metop-A |
Status: | Operational |
Type: | Absorption-band MW radiometer/spectrometer |
Description: | All-weather night-day temperature sounding to an altitude of 45 km |
Spatial Resolution: | 48 km |
Swath Width: | 2054 km |
Wavebands: | Microwave: 15 channels, 23.8 - 89.0 GHz |
Technology: | Absorption-band MW radiometer/spectrometer |
Description: | Radiometers operating in bands of absorption from O2 (typical, ~ 54 GHz) and from H2O (typical: ~ 183 GHz) enable measuring the atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles in nearly-all-weather conditions. Cross-nadir scanning is utilised, though also conical scanners use to include channels in absorption bands. Radiometric accuracy is a driver for profiling, thus scanning speed must be relatively slow, that implies coarse resolution (typical, 50 km for 54 GHZ, 15 km for 183 GHz, horizontal; the vertical, referring to the product, is ~ 2 km). Applicable in LEO; however by adding higher frequencies (e.g. 118 and 425 GHz for O2 and 380 GHz for H2O) sounding is also possible from GEO. |
Measurement List:
  Atmospheric temperature (column/profile) |
  Atmospheric specific humidity (column/profile) |
  Cloud liquid water (column/profile) |
  Cloud type |
  Precipitation rate (liquid) at the surface |
  Height of tropopause |
  Temperature of tropopause |
  Long-wave Earth surface emissivity |
  Wind speed over sea surface (horizontal) |
  Sea-ice cover |
  Snow cover |
  Snow water equivalent |
  Land surface temperature |
  Soil moisture at the surface |
(select measurement name to view details)
CEOS Systems Engineering Office (SEO)
CEOS Data Base Version: 17 - Created: 2012-01-18