BackForwardInstrument:  BBR 

Instrument details
Acronym BBR
Full name Broad-Band Radiometer
Purpose Earth radiation budget in support of the main Earth-CARE instruments (ATLID and CPR, both nadir-pointing)
Short description Two channels.  Three telescopes, one for each of three views [see detailed characteristics below]
Background Consolidated technology
Scanning Technique Three along-track views: nadir, fore- and aft- (± 55° zenith angle)
Resolution 10 km (constant for all three views)
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage in 16 d for cells of 100 km side
Mass 21.6 kg Power 39 W Data Rate 50 kbps

 

Providing Agency ESA
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: 2024 to 2027
Last update: 2022-07-18
Detailed characteristics
 Channel  Spectral interval Noise Equivalent Radiance Absolute accuracy SNR

Short-wave (outgoing)

 0.2 - 3.8 µm .... W m-2 sr-1 2.5  W m-2 sr-1 ……………...

Total radiance (outgoing)

 0.2 - 50 µm ....  W m-2 sr-1 1.5  W m-2 sr-1 ……………...
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 optical radiometer or spectrometer
  • Broadband Earth radiation radiometer
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • Absolutely calibrated broadband radiometers, and TSI and SSI radiometers
  • Broadband radiometer (for ERB)
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Upward long-wave irradiance at TOA
  • Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA
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
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA*1 - primaryAlong-track only.SW radiance measured directly, and bi-axial support for irradiance computation
Upward long-wave irradiance at TOA*2 - very highAlong-track only.LW radiance achieved by difference between Total and SW