Passive microwave atmospheric sounder on a CubeSat performing science-quality observations for nearly 2 years: Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems Demonstration (TEMPEST-D) mission

Steven C. Reising; Todd C. Gaier; Shannon T. Brown; Wesley Berg; Sharmila Padmanabhan; Boon H. Lim; Christian D. Kummerow; V. Chandrasekar; Cate Heneghan; Richard Schulte; Yuriy Goncharenko; C. Radhakrishnan; Matthew Pallas; Doug Laczkowski; Nancy Gaytan; Austin Bullard

doi:10.1117/12.2570371

20 August 2020 Passive microwave atmospheric sounder on a CubeSat performing science-quality observations for nearly 2 years: Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems Demonstration (TEMPEST-D) mission

Steven C. Reising, Todd C. Gaier, Shannon T. Brown, Wesley Berg, Sharmila Padmanabhan, Boon H. Lim, Christian D. Kummerow, V. Chandrasekar, Cate Heneghan, Richard Schulte, Yuriy Goncharenko, C. Radhakrishnan, Matthew Pallas, Doug Laczkowski, Nancy Gaytan, Austin Bullard

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Proceedings Volume 11505, CubeSats and SmallSats for Remote Sensing IV; 1150504 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2570371
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2020, Online Only

Abstract

The Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems Demonstration (TEMPEST-D) mission is the first CubeSat-based multi-frequency microwave sounder to provide global data over a sustained period. The mission was designed to demonstrate on-orbit capabilities of a five-frequency millimeter-wave radiometer for a complete TEMPEST mission using a closely-spaced train of eight 6U CubeSats with identical low-mass, low-power millimeter-wave sensors to sample rapid changes in convection and surrounding water vapor every 3-4 minutes for up to 30 minutes. The TEMPEST-D satellite was launched on May 21, 2018 from NASA Wallops to the ISS and was successfully deployed on July 13, 2018, into a 400-km orbit at 51.6° inclination. The TEMPEST-D sensor has been operating nearly continuously since its first light data on September 5, 2018. On-orbit results indicate that TEMPEST-D is a very well-calibrated, highly stable radiometer, indistinguishable in performance from larger operational sensors.

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Steven C. Reising, Todd C. Gaier, Shannon T. Brown, Wesley Berg, Sharmila Padmanabhan, Boon H. Lim, Christian D. Kummerow, V. Chandrasekar, Cate Heneghan, Richard Schulte, Yuriy Goncharenko, C. Radhakrishnan, Matthew Pallas, Doug Laczkowski, Nancy Gaytan, and Austin Bullard "Passive microwave atmospheric sounder on a CubeSat performing science-quality observations for nearly 2 years: Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems Demonstration (TEMPEST-D) mission", Proc. SPIE 11505, CubeSats and SmallSats for Remote Sensing IV, 1150504 (20 August 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2570371

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KEYWORDS

Microwave radiation

Sensors

Atmospheric sciences

Space operations

Radiometry

Satellites

Earth's atmosphere

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