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Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth observing System (AMSR-E)

The AMSR-E sensor is a passive microwave radiometer operating at 6 frequencies ranging from 6.925 to 89.0GHz. Both horizontally and vertically polarized radiation are measured at each frequency with an incidence angle of 55°. The ground spatial resolution at nadir is 75 × 45km for the 6.925GHz channel (C-band). The AMSR-E is one of six sensors onboard Aqua, which was launched in 2002. It has a 1:30am/pm equator crossing orbit with 1-2 day repeat coverage. Several surface soil moisture products are available globally. AMSR-E brightness temperature data can be downloaded free of charge from the NSIDC website or other Distributed Active Archive Center's (DAAC's). While the current AMSR-E sensor continues to outlive its expected lifetime, a follow-on mission is planned by JAXA for the near future. The features of AMSR-E are summarized below. AMSR-E data can be downloaded from NASA.

Mission	AMSR-E
Sensor	Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth observing System (AMSR-E)
Spacecraft	Aqua
Launch date	4th, May 2002
Design life	6 years
Orbit	Sun-synchronous, near-polar orbit. Cross Equator at 1:30pm., acsending node.
Spacecraft operations control centre	National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA)
Center frequency (GHz)	6.925	10.65	18.7	23.8	36.5	89.0
Band width (MHz)	350	100	200	400	1000	3000
Polarisation	H & V
Incidence angle (°)	55
Swath (km)	1445
Spatial resolution (km)	75 × 43	51 × 29	27 × 16	32 × 18	14 × 8	6 × 4
Radiometric resolution (K)	0.3	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	1.1
Temporal resolution	~3 days at the equator and more frequently at higher latitudes

AMSR-E overpass time

AMSR-E coverage for the Murrumbidgee Catchment during the AACES-2 campaign has been calculated by a Fortran program based on NORAD data for 29th, Aug. 2010, and is summarized in the table below. Date and time are in UTC. Aircraft flights were assumed to be conducted at 7:45 for descending overpass and 20:35 for ascending overpass.

	: Transect flight within 6 hours		: Patch flight within 6 hours
●	: Fully covered	○	: Partially covered

UTC Date

Start UTC Time

Duration (s)

Flight

Patch

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

2010/09/08

4:34:47

212

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

○

2010/09/08

15:36:43

229

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/09

3:39:37

180

○

●

●

●

●

2010/09/09

14:43:04

85

○

○

2010/09/10

4:22:15

239

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/10

15:24:26

230

T01

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/11

16:08:22

83

○

○

2010/09/12

4:09:46

247

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/12

15:12:11

229

P04

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/13

4:53:55

92

○

○

2010/09/13

15:55:17

190

●

●

●

●

●

○

○

2010/09/14

3:57:29

233

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/14

15:00:07

209

○

○

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/15

4:40:56

191

●

●

●

●

●

●

○

2010/09/15

15:42:45

224

P05

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/16

3:45:24

206

○

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/16

14:48:27

149

○

○

●

●

2010/09/17

4:28:23

227

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/17

15:30:26

230

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/18

3:33:41

138

○

●

●

2010/09/19

4:15:51

246

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/19

15:18:08

231

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/20

16:01:33

154

P07

●

●

●

○

2010/09/21

4:03:27

242

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/21

15:05:57

224

P08

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/22

4:47:10

155

●

●

●

○

2010/09/22

15:48:50

211

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

○

2010/09/23

3:51:15

223

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/23

14:54:03

187

T02

○

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/24

4:34:29

212

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

○

2010/09/24

15:36:25

229

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/25

3:39:19

181

○

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/25

14:42:44

89

○

○

2010/09/26

4:21:57

238

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

2010/09/26

15:24:08

230

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●