MetOp-SG-A1 with the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer

MetOp-SG-A1 has been at Airbus’ facilities in France for around two years where engineers have been carefully integrating its instrument package. These sensors include an infrared sounding interferometer, a radio occultation instrument and a microwave sounder, which use different techniques to measure atmospheric humidity and temperature, along with an instrument that images aerosols and a multispectral visible and infrared imaging radiometer, and the Copernicus Sentinel-5 instrument that provides data on air pollutants.

The photograph shows the satellite in a horizontal position. The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer is at the front of the satellite, the METImage instrument is at the bottom (first black block), Radio Occultation velocity antenna is under the vertical red cover, the other instruments, Copernicus Sentinel-5, the Microwave Sounder and the Multi-viewing Multi-channel Multi-polarisation Imager are underneath and not in view here.

The MetOp-Second Generation mission comprises three successive pairs of satellites to deliver data for weather forecasting and climate prediction for over 20 years. Working as a pair in polar orbit, the A-type and the B-type satellites are equipped with complementary suites of instruments to provide high-resolution measurements of temperature, precipitation, clouds, winds, and more.