Special Sensor Microwave/imager
The special sensor microwave/imager (SSM/I) is a seven-channel, four-frequency, linearly polarized passive microwave radiometer system. It is flown on board the United States Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Block 5D-2 satellites. The instrument measures surface/atmospheric microwave brightness temperatures (TBs) at 19.35, 22.235, 37.0 and 85.5 GHz. The four frequencies are sampled in both horizontal and vertical polarizations, except the 22 GHz which is sampled in the vertical only.
The SSM/I has been a very successful instrument, superseding the across-track and Dicke radiometer designs of previous systems. Its combination of constant-angle rotary-scanning and total power radiometer design has become standard for passive microwave imagers, e.g. TRMM Microwave Imager, AMSR.
Its predecessor, the scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR), provided similar information. Its successor, the Special Sensor Microwave Imager / Sounder (SSMIS), is an enhanced eleven-channel, eight-frequency system.
Read more about Special Sensor Microwave/imager: Products, Instrument Characteristics, Instrument History
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