BackForwardInstrument:  SSM/T 

Instrument details
Acronym SSM/T
Full name Special Sensor Microwave - Temperature
Purpose Temperature sounding in nearly-all-weather conditions
Short description 7 channels MW radiometer covering the 54 GHz band [see detailed characteristics below]
Background New development
Scanning Technique Cross-track: 7 steps of 174 km ssp, swath 1500 km - Along-track: one 48-km line each 8 s
Resolution 200 km at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage once/day
Mass 11 kg Power 15 W Data Rate 144 bps

 

Providing Agency DoD
Instrument Maturity Flown on operational programme
Utilization Period: 1979 to 2020
Last update: 2023-03-27
Detailed characteristics
No. Central frequency (GHz) Bandwidth (MHz) Polarisation NEΔT
1 50.50 400 H 0.60 K
2 53.20 400 H 0.40 K
3 54.35 400 H 0.40 K
4 54.90 400 H 0.40 K
5 58.40 350 H 0.50 K
6 58.825 300 H 0.40 K
7 59.40 250 H 0.40 K
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 microwave radiometer
  • Cross-track, special or non-scanning microwave radiometer
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • MW sounders [in SSO]
  • MW sounder [in SSO]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Atmospheric temperature
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 - highVery coarse vertical resolution.A few MW channels in the 54 GHz band. Nearly all-weather sounding
Freezing level height in clouds4 - fairNo specific limitation.MW channels in the 54 GHz band. Inference from the temperature profile
Melting layer depth in clouds4 - fairNo specific limitation.MW channels in the 54 GHz band. Inference from the temperature profile