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Completed TRL 4 (started at 4, targeting 4)
The Compact Scanning Submillimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer (CoSSIR) is the only airborne submillimeter-wave cloud and precipitation sensor in the United States that has made airborne observations; however, it has never been a standalone instrument as it shares resources with its microwave sibling CoSMIR. In this project, we will make CoSSIR a stand-alone sensor, and exploit the configurable scanning architecture of the sensor. This sensor will be used to demonstrate the use of multiangle observations for probing the vertical structure of clouds and snowfall through computed tomography (CT), and it will be well positioned to play a role in Suborbital campaigns supporting the ACCP Decadal Survey designated observable.
Submillimeter-wave sensors offer a promising avenue for Micro- and CubeSat (i.e., small spaceborne) “microwave” radiometers due to the smaller wavelength compared to heritage spaceborne microwave sensors used for cloud and precipitation sensing, offering equivalent spatial resolution at a reduced size. Moreover, submillimeter-wave sensors are more sensitive to ice cloud and snow particles than sensors operating at lower frequencies. Thus, submillimeter-wave radiometers offer a path to perform new, innovative science in cost- and size-constrained platforms, and the ACCP study team is strongly considering submillimeter-wave sensors as part of the observing architectures. The programmable scan pattern of CoSSIR can mimic any of the possible scan geometries (conical, cross-track) that would be implemented for a spaceborne sensor, making CoSSIR the ideal airborne sensor for the ACCP era, and the use of CT for reconstructing vertical profiles will advance cloud and precipitation science.
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