Research applications and opportunities using Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) data

摘要

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) is a passive microwave radiometer on board the National Aeronautics Space Agency (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua satellite. Aqua, a sun-synchronous polar orbiting platform, is one of a series of spacecraft launched by NASA's Earth Science Enterprise to obtain remotely-sensed data for the advancement of Earth System Science. The AMSR-E measures passive microwave radiation, allowing for derivation of many parameters, including soil moisture, sea surface temperatures, rain rate, snow cover and sea ice extent. The instrument provides improved spatial resolution compared to earlier generations of spacecraft-borne passive microwave instruments (e.g., SMMR and SSM/I) and retrieves information in more frequencies of the microwave spectrum than its predecessors. Data products are archived and distributed by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) at the University of Colorado, Boulder (www.nsidc.org/daac/amsr/). This paper summarizes the AMSR-E data sets that will be available at NSIDC and discusses research applications of some of them.