Summary

Description

HAMSR is a 25-channel microwave atmospheric sounder operating as a cross-track scanner. It operates in three frequency bands centered around 53, 118 and 183 GHz. HAMSR functionality is similar to AMSU-A/B, but with additional channels. There are three bands: an 8-channel band near 50-GHz, used for primary temperature sounding; a 10-channel band near 118 GHz, used for secondary temperature sounding and assessment of scattering; and a 7-channel band near 183 GHz, used for water vapor (humidity) sounding. The instrument is continuously self-calibrating using internal calibration targets. Radiometric sensitivity at the composite sampling cells provided in the archive is typically 0.1 K and ranges up to 0.25 K for the stratospheric channels. Calibration accuracy is estimated at better than 1 K for temperature sounding and better than 2 K for water vapor sounding. Temperature weighting function peaks are distributed between the surface and the flight altitude.