| Paper: | TU-P1.4 |
| Session: | Advanced Radiometry |
| Time: | Tuesday, March 27, 14:20 - 14:40 |
| Presentation: |
Oral
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| Topic: |
Advanced radiometer techniques: |
| Title: |
WindSat Space Borne Polarimetric Microwave Radiometer: Data Products and System Performance |
| Authors: |
Peter Gaiser; US Naval Research Laboratory | | |
| | Michael Bettenhausen; US Naval Research Laboratory | | |
| | Li Li; US Naval Research Laboratory | | |
| | David Truesdale; US Naval Research Laboratory | | |
| | Elizabeth Twarog; US Naval Research Laboratory | | |
| Abstract: |
WindSat, a satellite-based multi-frequency polarimetric microwave radiometer developed by the Naval Research Laboratory for the U.S. Navy and the NPOESS Integrated Program Office (IPO), has collected over 14 years of fully-polarimetric microwave measurements from space since its launch in 2003. The primary WindSat mission was to demonstrate the capability to retrieve the ocean surface wind vector from a space-based microwave radiometer. The WindSat data is now being used to produce near-real-time products for the ocean surface wind vector, sea surface temperature (SST) and atmospheric columnar water vapor and cloud liquid water over the ocean at the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorological and Oceanographic Center (FNMOC). Several groups are assimilating WindSat data products into numerical weather models with positive results.
In addition to providing environmental products over the ocean, the WindSat data set has been exploited for retrievals over land and ice. In particular, the WindSat channel set is well suited to retrieving soil moisture and land surface temperature. We have also built on heritage algorithms to derive sea ice concentration. This paper will provide highlights of WindSat environmental products.
The success of the WindSat mission is directly traceable to the on-orbit sensor calibration. WindSat was designed with a one-year mission requirement and three year goal. Now in WindSat’s fifteenth year on orbit, we continue to monitor the instrument performance and the calibration stability. Key system performance and calibration parameters include the receiver gains and NEDTs. These parameters are susceptible to component aging and changes in the payload thermal behavior. We will present trends in NEDT and receiver gains over the life of the mission. In addition to its primary mission, the long life of WindSat enables it to provide many forms of risk reduction and lessons learned for future microwave imagers.
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