Middle Atmosphere Temperature Profiles from SSMIS

The Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) is the next generation passive microwave instrument suite for the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. With its expected launch date of August 2001, SSMIS will be the first satellite sensor to provide temperature profiles from the surface to 70 km altitude over more than 85% of the globe each day. Coincident water vapor profiles up to 10 km altitude will also be obtained. This represents an improvement over current meteorological temperature sounders, which can reach altitudes of only ~ 45 km, and also limb-sounding systems with their limited spatial coverage. Whereas the vertical resolution of the profiles obtained with the SSMIS (~ 10-20 km) is relatively coarse compared to limb-sounders, the horizontal resolution of 75 km (40 km below 10 mb) will allow better definition of the 3-D temperature structure associated with atmospheric dynamics. Availability of these data for a wide range of atmospheric conditions will also improve estimates of chemical production and loss rates in photochemical models. Further information on sensor configuration, analysis techniques, as well as simulated retrievals, will be presented.