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Satellite Missions and Instruments

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Satellite Measurements of Clouds and Precipitation

Part of the book series: Springer Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry ((SPRINGERREMO))

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Abstract

In this chapter, satellite missions targeted on cloud and precipitation measurements are first outlined, followed by an overview of instruments aboard. It is not intended to go through a complete catalog of missions and instruments ever sent into orbit, but is instead to focus on the present and relatively recent satellite programs at the time of this writing. The reader new to satellite remote sensing might be overwhelmed at first by an inundation of acronyms, but there is of course no need to memorize all these abbreviations. The names of missions are not of eternal value anyway in that all satellite programs will soon become outdated (or may have already so for future readers). Nevertheless, the heritage of key mission objectives and instrument capabilities at present time will be passed on to future satellite programs with the underlying basics remaining largely unchanged. The ultimate goal of this chapter is to illustrate such ageless fundamentals of satellite technologies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There is no strict definition for the range of “LEO” altitudes.

  2. 2.

    Fengyun means “wind cloud” in Chinese.

  3. 3.

    The first of the latest generation (the Himawari series) is numbered as 8 because “himawari”, sunflower in Japanese, has been the domestic nickname of all the GMS/MTSAT/Himawari satellites throughout their generations.

  4. 4.

    In 2018, CloudSat was forced by reaction wheel anomalies to exit from the A-Train and was later joined by CALIPSO to form a new fleet in a slightly lower orbit. This new formation is called C-Train.

  5. 5.

    The original name of SAPHIR in French is Sondeur Atmosphérique du Profil d’Humidité Intertropicale par Radiométrie.

  6. 6.

    It is called sounding in meteorological jargon to measure the vertical profiles of temperature and humidity (and of other gaseous components). This term is of course only analogical because acoustic waves play no role in either satellite or radiosonde observations.

  7. 7.

    DMSP F-16 and the later DMSP satellites carry SSMIS in replace of SSM/I.

  8. 8.

    CWV, also known as water vapor path (WVP) or (total) precipitable water, is the vertically integrated mass of atmospheric water vapor per area. CWV has the units of kg m\(^{-2}\), or mm when expressed as the depth of liquid water of equivalent mass.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

    Hirohiko Masunaga

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  1. Hirohiko Masunaga
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Correspondence to Hirohiko Masunaga .

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Masunaga, H. (2022). Satellite Missions and Instruments. In: Satellite Measurements of Clouds and Precipitation. Springer Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2243-5_2

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