BackForwardInstrument:  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-1 cm

14.96 μm

668.5 cm-1

3.5 cm-1

< 0.25 mW m-2 sr-1 cm

14.77 μm

677.5 cm-1

10 cm-1

< 0.25 mW m-2 sr-1 cm

14.38 μm

695.0 cm-1

10 cm-1

< 0.25 mW m-2 sr-1 cm

14.12 μm

708.0 cm-1

10 cm-1

< 0.25 mW m-2 sr-1 cm

13.79 μm

725.0 cm-1

10 cm-1

< 0.25 mW m-2 sr-1 cm

13.38 μm

747.0 cm-1

10 cm-1

< 0.25 mW m-2 sr-1 cm

11.97 μm

833.0 cm-1

10 cm-1

< 0.25 mW m-2 sr-1 cm

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

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.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Atmospheric temperature*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Inaccurate in low troposphere.Many TIR channels in the 15 micrometer band
Cloud cover5 - marginalDiscontinuous coverage.TIR channel(s)
Cloud top height3 - highDiscontinuous coverage.TIR channels in window and in CO2 band for atmospheric column above cloud top
Cloud top temperature5 - marginalDiscontinuous coverage.TIR window channel(s)
Sea surface temperature5 - marginalCloud sensitive.TIR window channel(s)
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)*3 - highCloud sensitive.TIR and FIR channels from the 11 micrometers window into the 18 micrometers water vapour rotational band
Upward long-wave irradiance at TOA5 - marginalSpectral 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