BackForwardInstrument:  HSB 

Instrument details
Acronym HSB
Full name Humidity Sounder for Brazil
Purpose Humidity sounding in almost all-weather conditions.  Also precipitation rate
Short description
  • 4 channels [see detailed characteristics below]
  • More infromation here
Background

Derived from AMSU-B, flown on EOS-Aqua (instrument premature failure)
Scanning Technique

Cross-track: 90 steps of 13.5 km ssp, swath 1650 km - Along-track: one 13.5-km line every 8/3 s
Resolution 13.5 km at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Near-global coverage once/day
Mass 51 kg Power 80 W Data Rate 4.2 kbps

 

Providing Agency INPE
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2002 to 2003
Last update: 2024-09-30
Detailed characteristics
No. Central frequency (GHz) Bandwidth (MHz) Polarisation NEΔT
17 150.0 1000 V 1.0 K
20 183.31 ± 7.0 2000 V 1.0 K
19 183.31 ± 3.0 1000 V 1.0 K
18 183.31 ± 1.0 500 V 1.0 K
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
  • Cross-track, special or non-scanning microwave radiometer
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • MW sounders [in SSO]
  • MW sounder [in SSO]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Specific humidity
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
Downward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface5 - marginalHighly indirect.MW channels in 183 GHz band to account for downward cloud radiation
Precipitation intensity at surface (liquid or solid)5 - marginalNo specific limitation.MW channels in the 183 GHz band. Suitable for solid precipitation over sea and land, Insensitive to surface emissivity
Specific humidity*3 - highCoarse vertical resolution.MW channels in the 183 GHz band
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)2 - very highNo specific limitation.MW channels in the water vapour band around 183 GHz
Upward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface5 - marginalHighly indirect.MW channels is the 183 GHz band to infer the impact of clouds on the upward LW radiation