The EPS-SG microwave and sub-millimetre wave missions: Micro-Wave Imager (MWI) and Ice Cloud Imager (ICI) sensors

Date
Speaker
Vinia Mattioli (EUMETSAT)
Francesco De Angelis (EUMETSAT)

ABSTRACT. The second generation of the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS-SG) will include two conically scanning microwave radiometers: the Micro-Wave Imager (MWI) and the Ice Cloud Imager (ICI). They will be flown on the Metop-SG B satellites in a polar, sun-synchronous mid-morning orbit.

MWI will have 18 channels ranging from 18 to 183 GHz. The frequencies at 18.7, 23.8, 31.4 and 89 GHz provide continuity to key microwave imager channels for weather forecasting, with information on precipitation and on total column water vapour and cloud liquid water over ocean. MWI observation at lower channels are also relevant for observations of sea ice. MWI includes also innovative set of channels near 50–60 GHz and at 118 GHz, sensitive to weak precipitation and snowfall. Dual polarisation is implemented up to 89 GHz, at higher frequencies only vertical polarisation will be provided.

ICI is a novel mission, the first operational radiometer of this type designed for the remote sensing of cloud ice. ICI will cover the mm/sub-mm spectrum from 183 GHz to 664 GHz, with 11 channels, partly situated in the water vapour absorption lines (around 183, 325 and 448 GHz) and others in the atmospheric windows at 243 and 664 GHz. The window channels are implemented with dual polarisation, while the other channels are vertically polarised only. The ICI will provide an innovative characterisation of clouds, with information on humidity and ice hydrometeors, particularly the bulk ice mass. ICI mission will also support climate monitoring.

Combined, the MWI and ICI radiometers will provide an unprecedented set of passive microwave measurements, from 18.7 GHz up to 664 GHz. 

Activities related to the preparation of the Level 1B and Level 2 operational products will be discussed. The main functionality and algorithms of the product generation will be shown, and the first version of the test datasets developed to verify the correct implementation of the MWI and ICI Operational Processors will be presented.

 

Short Author's Bio

Vinia Mattioli received the M.S. degree in electronic engineering and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Perugia, Italy, in 2001 and 2005, respectively. She received a Ph.D. scholarship to conduct research at Environmental Technology Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO, USA, from 2003 to 2004. From 2005 to 2012, Dr. Mattioli was with the Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, Perugia, and the Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate. From 2011 to 2012, she was a Visiting Scientist on several occasions at Electromagnetics and Radar Department, ONERA, Toulouse, France. Since 2013, she has been with Remote Sensing and Product (RSP) Division, European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Darmstadt, Germany. She is responsible for the scientific development of the Level 1b and Level 2 operational products of the EUMETSAT Polar System— Second Generation (EPS-SG) Ice Cloud Imager (ICI). Her research interests include radiometer calibration techniques, passive ground- and satellite-based microwave atmospheric remote sensing, and microwave radiative transfer. 

Francesco De Angelis received the M.S. degree in Physics and the Ph.D. degree in Physical and Chemical Sciences from the University of L’Aquila, Italy, in 2013 and 2017, respectively. From 2012 to 2017, he was with the Centre of research excellence CETEMPS, dealing with the assimilation of the passive ground-based microwave radiometer observations into the Numerical Weather Prediction Models. In particular, he contributed to the development of the ground-based version of the fast radiative transfer model RTTOV. Since 2017, he has been in the Remote Sensing and Product (RSP) Division of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Darmstadt, Germany. He is currently responsible for the scientific development of the Level 1b and Level 2 operational products of the EUMETSAT Polar System— Second Generation (EPS-SG) Micro-Wave Imager (MWI). His research interests include radiometer calibration and retrieval techniques, passive ground- and satellite-based microwave atmospheric remote sensing and microwave radiative transfer.

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