Microwave Water Vapor Profiler (SSM/T-2)

Description

This instrument, SSM/T-2, is designed to provide global monitoring of the concentration of water vapor in the atmosphere under all sky conditions by taking advantage of the reduced sensitivity of the microwave region to cloud attenuation.

SSM/T-2 is a cross-tracking scanning, five channel, passive total power microwave radiometer system which consists of a single, self-contained module with a step-scan motion in the cross-track direction of +/- 40.5 degrees. The SSM/T-2 scan mechanism is synchronized with the SSM/T-1 so that the beam cell patterns of the two sensor coincide. SSM/T-2 has three channels situated symmetrically about the 183.31 GHz water vapor resonance line and two window channels. This instrument was flown on all DMSP Block 5D-2 satellites starting with F11 (launched in 1991).

The SSM/T-2 observation rate is 7.5 scans per minute. There are 28 observations (beam positions) per scan for each of the five channels, with each observation having a spatial resolution of approximately 48 km. All five channels have coincident centers. The total swath width for the SSM/T-2 is approximately 1500 km.

URL for further information: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dmsp/descriptions/doc_ssmt2.html