3:30 PM - 3:45 PM
[ACG36-16] Development of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 3 (AMSR3) toward Observations of Long-term Global Water Cycle Variations
Keywords:satellite, microwave radiometer, water cycle, global, long-term
It is well-known that daily observation of global water-related parameters strongly relies on the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) passive microwave radiometers, such as microwave imagers and sounders. In this context, JAXA’s Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) series play an important role in obtaining and disseminating essential information to various operational applications, such as global numerical weather predictions, fisheries, and navigation safety, as well as scientific researches on global water cycle variations and climate change studies, by its cloud-penetrating capabilities, higher spatial resolution with large-sized (2-m diameter) antenna, and sensitivities to sea surface temperature (SST) and land surface soil moisture.
The AMSR series is a multi-frequency, total-power microwave radiometer system with dual polarization channels for all frequency bands from 6.9 to 89 GHz. The first generation of AMSR series is AMSR on ADEOS-II and AMSR-E on NASA’s Aqua launched in 2002. The second generation, AMSR2 on the Global Change Observation Mission-Water (GCOM-W or “SHIZUKU”) started its observation since July 2012, 10-month gap after AMSR-E’s observation halt in October 2011. Two major purposes of AMSR2 mission are 1) monitoring and projection of water cycle variation; and 2) application in operational utilization. Observation targets of the AMSR series cover water-related parameters including several Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) in the atmosphere, ocean, land and cryosphere (see https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/AMSR/datacatalog/). AMSR2 has been in extended operation phase since 2017 and continues observation more than 11.5 years in orbit with various achievements in both science and operational applications under close collaboration with the science team and stakeholders. Several new research products are developed and released upon requests from users.
JAXA is currently developing a follow-on mission of AMSR2, named AMSR3, to be carried by the Global Observing SATellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle (GOSAT-GW), to be launched in the Japanese Fiscal Year of 2024 by H-IA launch vehicle. AMSR3 is designed to succeed and expand global water cycle observations and operational applications by the past AMSR series. Its sensor specification is almost similar to that of AMSR2 except additional channels in high-frequency (166.5, 183+-7, 183+-3 GHz) for snowfall and water vapor analysis and 10.25 GHz with improved Noise Equivalent Delta Temperature (NEDT) for robust SST retrievals in higher spatial resolution. The 10.25 GHz channels can be also used as backup channels of 10.65 GHz when Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) exits and contaminates natural signals. Developments of satellite, instrument, ground system, and algorithms are underway toward the launch. The Critical Design Review (CDR) of the satellite system was completed in October 2023, and Manufacturing and Testing Phase (Phase D) is in the process. All modules to produce AMSR3 higher-level products were tested and installed to the Mission Operation System (MOS) in December 2023. AMSR3 product (NetCDF4 compatible to HDF5) will be released to the public about one year after the launch but may be released earlier to PIs and partner agencies during CAL/VAL phase. We plan to release sample AMSR3 standard products to them in summer 2024 and to public later.
Further information regarding the AMSR series can be obtained from the integrated web site for the AMSR series (https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/AMSR/). We have updated the AMSR Earth Environment Viewer (see figure), an interactive web browsing tool for the AMSR series, in July 2023 enabling to display temporal average (daily, 5-day running mean, half-monthly and monthly), anomaly or anomaly in %, and climatology (https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/AMSR/viewer).
The AMSR series is a multi-frequency, total-power microwave radiometer system with dual polarization channels for all frequency bands from 6.9 to 89 GHz. The first generation of AMSR series is AMSR on ADEOS-II and AMSR-E on NASA’s Aqua launched in 2002. The second generation, AMSR2 on the Global Change Observation Mission-Water (GCOM-W or “SHIZUKU”) started its observation since July 2012, 10-month gap after AMSR-E’s observation halt in October 2011. Two major purposes of AMSR2 mission are 1) monitoring and projection of water cycle variation; and 2) application in operational utilization. Observation targets of the AMSR series cover water-related parameters including several Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) in the atmosphere, ocean, land and cryosphere (see https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/AMSR/datacatalog/). AMSR2 has been in extended operation phase since 2017 and continues observation more than 11.5 years in orbit with various achievements in both science and operational applications under close collaboration with the science team and stakeholders. Several new research products are developed and released upon requests from users.
JAXA is currently developing a follow-on mission of AMSR2, named AMSR3, to be carried by the Global Observing SATellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle (GOSAT-GW), to be launched in the Japanese Fiscal Year of 2024 by H-IA launch vehicle. AMSR3 is designed to succeed and expand global water cycle observations and operational applications by the past AMSR series. Its sensor specification is almost similar to that of AMSR2 except additional channels in high-frequency (166.5, 183+-7, 183+-3 GHz) for snowfall and water vapor analysis and 10.25 GHz with improved Noise Equivalent Delta Temperature (NEDT) for robust SST retrievals in higher spatial resolution. The 10.25 GHz channels can be also used as backup channels of 10.65 GHz when Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) exits and contaminates natural signals. Developments of satellite, instrument, ground system, and algorithms are underway toward the launch. The Critical Design Review (CDR) of the satellite system was completed in October 2023, and Manufacturing and Testing Phase (Phase D) is in the process. All modules to produce AMSR3 higher-level products were tested and installed to the Mission Operation System (MOS) in December 2023. AMSR3 product (NetCDF4 compatible to HDF5) will be released to the public about one year after the launch but may be released earlier to PIs and partner agencies during CAL/VAL phase. We plan to release sample AMSR3 standard products to them in summer 2024 and to public later.
Further information regarding the AMSR series can be obtained from the integrated web site for the AMSR series (https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/AMSR/). We have updated the AMSR Earth Environment Viewer (see figure), an interactive web browsing tool for the AMSR series, in July 2023 enabling to display temporal average (daily, 5-day running mean, half-monthly and monthly), anomaly or anomaly in %, and climatology (https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/AMSR/viewer).