BackForwardInstrument:  TANSO-CAI 

Instrument details
Acronym TANSO-CAI
Full name Thermal And Near infrared Sensor for carbon Observations - Cloud and Aerosol Imager
Purpose Cloud and aerosol observation
Short description 4-channel UV/VIS/NIR/SWIR radiometer [see detailed characteristics below]
Background New development
Scanning Technique Push-broom, 2000 pixel/line (three VNIR channels), 500 pixels/line (SWIR channel); 1000 km swath
Resolution 0.5 km IFOV in VNIR, 1.5 km in SWIR
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage in 3 days
Mass 42 kg Power 83 W Data Rate 1.12 Mbps

 

Providing Agency JAXA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2009 to 2024
Last update: 2022-07-25
Detailed characteristics
Central wavelength Bandwidth SNR @ specified albedo
380 nm 20 nm 200 @ 15 % albedo
674 nm 20 nm 200 @ 11 % albedo
870 nm 20 nm 200 @ 11 % albedo
1600 nm 90 nm 200 @ 10 % albedo
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
  • Moderate resolution optical imager
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • UV/VIS/NIR sounders, nadir and limb
  • UV/VIS/NIR nadir sounder
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Cloud cover
  • Cloud optical depth
  • Leaf Area Index (LAI)
  • Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
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
Biomass4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels. Biomass inferred from NDVI and LAI
Cloud cover*5 - marginalDaylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Cloud optical depth*3 - highLow-density cloud only.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Cloud type5 - marginalDaylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface3 - highCloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Fire fractional cover5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.. Daylight only.VIS channels
Leaf Area Index (LAI)*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)*3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS and NIR channels
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)5 - marginalCloud sensitive.VIS channels, range undersampled
Short-wave cloud reflectance4 - fairNo specific limitation.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Snow cover2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels, enabling screening snow from clouds
Soil moisture at surface5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels. Soil moisture inferred from differential brightness
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA5 - marginalSpectral interpolation needed.. Information on BRDF needed.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Aerosol volcanic ash5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Sea-ice cover4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR (for contour enhancement) and SWIR (for discrimination from clouds) channels