A twelve-channel, six-frequency passive-microwave radiometer system measures vertically and horizontally polarized brightness temperatures at frequencies from 6.925 GHz to 89.0 GHz. Spatial resolution of individual measurements varies from 5.4 km to 56 km. The data was collected by the AMSR-E instrument on the EOS platform and processed by AMD_KOPRI, with the latest records from 2009.
Use Cases
- Retrieve sea ice concentration by analyzing the polarization difference at the 36.5 GHz channel.
- Estimate soil moisture levels using the lower frequency 6.925 GHz and 10.65 GHz brightness temperature measurements.
- Monitor atmospheric water vapor and cloud liquid water by modeling the emission and scattering signals across the 23.8 GHz and 36.5 GHz channels.
- Assess snow water equivalent by exploiting the scattering signature difference between the 18.7 GHz and 36.5 GHz frequencies.
- Perform inter-sensor calibration by comparing brightness temperatures from the conical-scanning AMSR-E with other microwave radiometers.
Strengths
- Provides dual-polarization measurements at six distinct microwave frequencies (6.925 to 89.0 GHz).
- Offers a constant Earth incidence angle of 55 degrees across a wide swath from a 1.6-meter reflector.
- Calibration is performed using cosmic background radiation and an on-board warm target for consistency.
Limitations
- Spatial resolution is coarse, varying from 56 km at 6.9 GHz to 5.4 km at 89.0 GHz, limiting fine-detail analysis.
- Data is from a single year (2009), providing only a temporal snapshot without long-term continuity.
- The specific row count, file formats, and data volume are unknown, complicating download and storage planning.
Provenance
- Source
- Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) instrument.
- Collection Method
- Earth-emitted microwave radiation collected by a scanning offset parabolic reflector and measured by an array of six feedhorns and radiometers.
- Time Range
- 2009
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Global coverage from satellite swath.