Measure cloud pressure and coverage, which provide data to derive tropospheric ozone. Map global distribution and trends in UV-B radiation. CNES of France leads the development while JPL manages the launch and operations. The signal round-trip time is estimated very precisely to calculate the range, after applying corrections. The PR measures the weakening or attenuation of signal strength by precipitation as the signal travels through clouds to the land or ocean surface and back again to the observatory.
Winds are a critical factor in determining regional weather patterns and climate.
The SeaWinds instrument on the QuikSCAT satellite is a specialized microwave radar that measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud conditions over Earth's oceans. TES has the capability to make both limb and nadir observations. In the limb mode, TES has a height resolution of 2.3 km, with coverage from 0 to 34 km. In the downlooking modes, TES has a spatial resolution of 0.53 x 5.3 km with a swath of 5.3 x 8.5 km. TES is a pointable instrument and can access any target within 45 of the local vertical, or produce regional transects up to 885-km length without any gaps in coverage.