NSSDCA ID: 1978-098A-08
Mission Name: Nimbus 7The primary purpose of the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) was to obtain sea surface temperature and near-surface winds under all-weather conditions for developing and testing global ocean circulation models and other aspects of ocean dynamics. Winds, water vapor, liquid-water content, mean cloud droplet size, rainfall rate and sea ice parameters were also determined. Microwave brightness temperatures were observed with a 10-channel (five-frequency dual polarized) scanning radiometer operating at frequencies of 37, 21, 18, 10.69, and 6.6 GHz. Six Dicke-type radiometers were utilized. Those operating at the four longest wavelengths measured alternate polarizations during successive scans of the antenna; the others operated continuously for each polarization. The antenna was a parabolic reflector offset from the nadir by 42 deg. Motion of the antenna reflector provided observations from within a conical volume along the ground track of the spacecraft. The same instrument was flown on SEASAT 1. For a complete description, see Section 8 in "The Nimbus 7 Users' Guide" (TRF B30045), available from NSSDC.
Mass: 52.3 kg
Power (avg): 60 W
Bit rate (avg): 25 kbps
Questions and comments about this experiment can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office
Name | Role | Original Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. Per Gloersen | Team Leader | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | per@icesat2.gsfc.nasa.gov |
Mr. Frank T. Barath | Team Member | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | ftbarath@mail3.jpl.nasa.gov |
Mr. John C. Alishouse | Team Member | NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service | |
Prof. David H. Staelin | Team Member | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | staelin@ll.mit.edu |
Dr. Alfred T. C. Chang | Team Member | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | achang@rainfall.gsfc.nasa.gov |
Dr. Thomas T. Wilheit, Jr. | Team Member | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | wilheit@tamu.edu |
Dr. D. B. Ross | Team Member | NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories | |
Dr. William J. Campbell | Team Member | US Geological Survey | |
Dr. Preben E. Gudmandsen | Team Member | Technical University of Denmark | |
Dr. Rene O. Ramseier | Team Member | Surveillance Satellite Project | |
Dr. Donald J. Cavalieri | Team Member | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | don@cavalieri.gsfc.nasa.gov |
Dr. Ola M. Johannessen | Team Member | US Naval Postgraduate School | |
Mr. E. J. Langham | Team Member | Canadian Space Agency-Radarsat Project Office | |
Prof. Kristina B. Katsaros | Team Member | University of Washington | katsaros@aoml.noaa.gov |
Prof. Klaus F. Kunzi | Team Member | Universitat Bern | kunzi@iup.physik.uni-bremen.de |
Mr. E. P.L. Windsor | Team Member | British Air Corporation, Ltd |