Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2022

Presentation information

[J] Oral

M (Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary) » M-SD Space Development & Earth Observation from Space

[M-SD42] Future Missions of Satellite Earth Observation

Tue. May 24, 2022 10:45 AM - 12:15 PM 104 (International Conference Hall, Makuhari Messe)

convener:Yoshiaki HONDA(Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University), convener:Yukari Takayabu(Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, the University of Tokyo), convener:Shinichi Sobue(Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), convener:Keiichi Ohara(Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Chairperson:Yoshiaki HONDA(Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University)

11:15 AM - 11:30 AM

[MSD42-08] Precipitation measuring mission by Ku-band Doppler precipitation radar

*Nobuhiro Takahashi1, Yukari Takayabu2, Kinji Furukawa3, Kazuyuki Okada3, Takuji Kubota3, Moeka Yamaji3, Kousuke Yamamoto3 (1.Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, 2.Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 3.Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)

Keywords:cloud-precipitation process, Doppler radar, ACCP

In this paper, we propose a mission using Ku-band Doppler precipitation radar as an active sensor that has an advantage in capturing the internal structure of precipitation and clouds. The title of this proposal has been changed from "Cloud Precipitation Observation Mission by Active Sensor" in the previous call for proposals, because it has moved to project formulation phase.
The proposed mission is characterized by the continuation of Ku-band radar precipitation observation, which has been continued in TRMM and GPM, to provide data for monitoring climate change, and the Doppler velocity observation in the nadir direction to pursue the dynamic process of precipitation system. Since the precipitation formation process is the subject of the research, it will be necessary to observe not only precipitation but also aerosol and cloud processes that lead to the precipitation formation process, which will be realized by collaborating with NASA's ACCP (aerosol, cloud, convection and precipitation) mission. This will be achieved by collaborating with NASA's ACCP (aerosol, cloud, convection and precipitation) mission. For this reason, the current launch date is 2028, with an orbital inclination of 55 degrees and an orbital altitude of 407 km.

The specifications of the satellite and sensors are shown below.
Satellite Specifications
Satellite orbit: Sun asynchronous orbit (orbital inclination: 55 degrees)
Orbit altitude: 407 km (tentative)
Satellite mass: Less than 2500 kg
Onboard sensor: Ku-band Doppler precipitation radar
Frequency: Ku band (13.6 GHz)
Sensor mass: 574 kg (max)
Power consumption:739 W (max)
Design life: 5 years
Horizontal resolution: 5x5 km (same as DPR)
Vertical resolution: 500 m (oversampling at 250 m intervals)
Swath width: 250 km (Doppler observation only at nadir, high density observation near the nadir)

The following is a summary of updates since the last proposal.
The orbit of the satellite was determined to be a non-sunsynchronous orbit with an inclination angle of 55 degrees and an altitude of 407 km.
Displaced Phase Center Antenna (DPCA) system with two 2 m x 2 m antennas is adopted for Doppler velocity observation to improve Doppler velocity measurement accuracy. Therefore, the footprint size was changed from 2.5 km (along-track direction) x 5 km (cross-track direction) to a 5 km x 5 km footprint similar to the GPM/DPR. The sensitivity in the nadir direction, where Doppler velocity observation is performed, is several dBZ, which is a significant improvement of about 10 dB over the conventional GPM KuPR. In addition, a few dB improvement over the GPM KuPR is expected in scanning other than Doppler velocity observation.

The expected results from this mission include the following.
(1) By adding simultaneous observations with other sensors and vertical Doppler velocity observations to the existing 3D observations of precipitation by TRMM/PR and GPM/DPR, the understanding of the micro physical processes of clouds and precipitation on a global scale will be advanced.
(2) To understand the changes in the global precipitation and processes themselves due to climate change by the continuous monitoring. Precipitation observation by radar has high sensitivity and accuracy, and can detect even small changes in the precipitation system, so it is expected to dramatically advance our understanding of the mechanism of climate change and improve prediction accuracy by linking it with numerical climate models.

The mission is recognized as a national project in the Basic Space Plan under the heading of "Continued Radar Upgrading [Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, etc.]," which states, "A successor mission to the precipitation radar, which we started to study in FY2020, will be studied with an eye to sharing the mission with the A-CCP mission currently being planned by NASA.”