BackForwardInstrument:  CIMR 

Instrument details
Acronym CIMR
Full name Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer
Purpose All-weather high-resolution MW imagery of sea-ice and surface temperature and salinity covering polar regions
Short description MW radiometer with full polarisation at each of 5 frequencies (equivalent to 30 channels), the lowest in L-band, the highest in Ka-band. High spatial resolution consistent to 7-m antenna [see detailed characteristics below]
Background New development
Scanning Technique Conical scanning, constant observation zenith angle of 55°, swath 1900 km covering the polar zones with no gap
Resolution Changing with frequency (see table). About 4 km at 36.5 GHz, 50 km at 1.4 GHz
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage in 1.5 days
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency ESA
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: 2029 to 2036
Last update: 2023-04-17
Detailed characteristics

Central frequency

Bandwidth (MHz)

Polarisations

NEΔT

IFOV

Pixel

1.4135 GHz

25 MHz

V, H, P, M, L, R

0.3 K

36x64 km

30x30 km

6.875 GHz

400 MHz

V, H, P, M, L, R

0.2 K

11x19 km

7.5x7.5 km

10.65 GHz

100 MHz

V, H, P, M, L, R

0.3 K

7x13 km

7.5x7.5 km

18.7 GHz

200 MHz

V, H, P, M, L, R

0.4 K

4x6 km

2.5x2.5 km

36.5 GHz

300 MHz

V, H, P, M, L, R

0.7 K

3x5 km

2.5x2.5 km
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 microwave radiometer
  • Conical scanning microwave radiometer
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • MW imagery for surface temperature
  • MW imager for surface temperature
  • Low-frequency MW imagery
  • Low-frequency MW imager
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Sea surface salinity
  • Sea surface temperature
  • Sea-ice cover
  • Sea-ice type
  • Soil moisture (in the roots region)
  • Soil moisture at surface
  • Wind speed (near surface)
  • Wind vector (near surface)
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
Biomass3 - highIndex only.. Coarse spatial resolution.Derived from differential effect of vegetation across MW frequencies around 7, 10 and 19 GHz
Cloud liquid water (CLW)3 - highNo specific limitation.MW channels around 37 GHz
Cloud liquid water (CLW) total column3 - highNo specific limitation.MW channels around 37 GHz
Land surface temperature5 - marginalCoarse spatial resolution.MW channels with more frequencies around 7 and 10 GHz to reduce sensitivity to radio-frequency interferences
Long-wave Earth surface emissivity3 - highLong time series needed.MW channels around 7, 10, 19 and 37 GHz. Emissivity across this MW range inferred by statistical analysis
Sea surface temperature*2 - very highNo specific limitation.MW channels with more frequencies around 7 and 10 GHz to reduce sensitivity to radio-frequency interferences
Snow cover2 - very highCoarse spatial resolution.MW channels around 19 and 37 GHz with high resolution closer to the scale of snow fields
Snow status (wet/dry)1 - primaryCoarse spatial resolution.MW channels around 19 and 37 GHz with high resolution closer to the scale of snow fields
Snow water equivalent1 - primaryCoarse spatial resolution.. Ground stations network needed.MW channels around 19 and 37 GHz with high resolution closer to the scale of snow fields
Soil moisture (in the roots region)*1 - primaryCoarse spatial resolution.MW channels around 1.4 GHz
Soil moisture at surface*1 - primaryCoarse spatial resolution.MW channels around 1.4 GHz
Wind speed (near surface)*2 - very highOver sea only.MW channels around 7, 10, 19 and 37 GHz
Wind vector (near surface)*3 - highOver sea only.MW channels for 3 or 4 Stokes parameters at frequencies around 10, 19 and 37 GHz
Sea surface salinity*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.MW polarimetric L-band radiometer (1.4 GHz)
Sea-ice cover*2 - very highNo specific limitation.MW channels around 7, 10, 19 and 37 GHz, with high spatial resolution for accurate contour detection
Sea-ice type*5 - marginalNo specific limitation.MW channels around 7, 10, 19 and 37 GHz. Type interpreted as age/roughness