The BroadBand Radiometer on the EarthCARE spacecraft
- Paper number
IAC-08.B1.3.9
- Author
Dr. Nigel Wright, Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd, United Kingdom
- Coauthor
Mr. David Spilling, Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd, United Kingdom
- Coauthor
Dr. Martin Caldwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, United Kingdom
- Coauthor
Mr. Kim Ward, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, United Kingdom
- Year
2008
- Abstract
EarthCARE is the third of the European Space Agency’s Earth Explorer Core Missions and is aimed at improving the understanding of interactions between clouds, aerosols and radiation – three factors believed to be important in the understanding of global warming. The BBR instrument will serve to confirm the radiated energy estimates which will be derived from the profiles of clouds and aerosols measured by the other instruments on the satellite.
The BBR instrument will use uncooled microbolometers to measure the Top Of the Atmosphere flux in 2 channels (0.2µm - 4µm, 0.2µm – 50µm) and in three directions (nadir, forward and backward) simultaneously.
The project has now commenced the design phase and the BBR instrument design, trade-offs and performance will be described in detail. The novel design is required to perform at much higher spatial resolutions than previous Earth Radiation Budget instruments and the method of achieving this will be described. Comparisons between the BBR instrument and previous Earth Radiation Budget instruments will also be made.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.B1.3.9.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.