Status of calibration and data evaluation of AMSR on board ADEOS-II

摘要

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) is the multi-frequency, passive microwave radiometer on board the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II), currently called Midori-II. The instrument has eight-frequency channels with dual polarization (except 50-GHz band) covering frequencies between 6.925 and 89.0 GHz. Measurement of 50-GHz channels is the first attempt by this kind of conically scanning microwave radiometers. Basic concept of the instrument including hardware configuration and calibration method is almost the same as that of AMSR for EOS (AMSR-E), the modified version of AMSR. Its swath width of 1,600 km is wider than that of AMSR-E. In parallel with the calibration and data evaluation of AMSR-E instrument, almost identical calibration activities have been made for AMSR instrument. After finished the initial checkout phase, the instrument has been continuously obtaining the data in global basis. Time series of radiometer sensitivities and automatic gain control telemetry indicate the stable instrument performance. For the radiometric calibration, we are now trying to apply the same procedure that is being used for AMSR-E. This paper provides an overview of the instrument characteristics, instrument status, and preliminary results of calibration and data evaluation activities.