SAPHIR

Sondeur Atmospherique du Profil d’Humidite Intertropicale par Radiometrie

Satellite

Megha-Tropiques

Status

Being integrated - To be utilised in the period 2009 to ~ 2014

Mission

Humidity sounding in nearly-all-weather conditions. Also precipitation

Instrument type

6-channel MW radiometer

Scanning technique

Cross-track: 127 steps of 10 km s.s.p., swath 1700 km - Along-track: one 10-km lines every 1.6 s

Coverage/cycle

Intertropical coverage 2 to 5 times/day depending on latitude (best coverage at 15°N and 15°S)

Resolution (s.s.p.)

10 km IFOV

Resources

Mass: … kg - Power: … W - Data rate: … kbps

Central frequency (GHz)

Bandwidth (MHz)

Polarisation

Radiometric accuracy (NEΔT)

183.31 ± 0.2

200

V

2.35 K

183.31 ± 1.1

350

V

1.45 K

183.31 ± 2.8

500

V

1.36 K

183.31 ± 4.2

700

V

1.38 K

183.31 ± 6.8

1200

V

1.03 K

183.31 ± 11

2000

V

1.10 K