The ability to provide timely and accurate meteorological information about ocean systems, storms, and the effects of tropical and polar weather patterns on the rest of the world is enhanced by the work of space-based microwave imagers. These instruments detect microwave energy in the form of brightness temperatures from Earth's surface and atmosphere.
Sophisticated instruments play a key role in today's scientific and environmental space missions.
The company's challenge was to design, develop, and build a space instrument that would complement the capabilities of traditional weather sensing devices. I provides data used by the military for tropical storm reconnaissance, ship routing in polar regions, agricultural weather reports, aircraft routing and refueling, and communications management. Stowed at launch, the sensor deploys in orbit and spins at a rate of 31 revolutions per minute. With each turn, the sensor maps a swath of the Earth that is 830 miles wide. The scans overlap each other to provide a continuous image.