The Megha-Tropiques satellite is devoted to the study of the atmospheric water cycle in the tropics and its relation to the radiative budget. It is aiming to study both the energy and water budget of the intertropical band and the life cycle of the convective complexes in the Tropics. The orbit of the satellite allows it to sample several times per day the zone from 23°N to 23°S, where most of the precipitation of the planet and large energy exchanges occur. The three instruments of the mission are a microwave imager, a microwave water vapor sounder and a radiative budget instrument. The launch of this mission by an Indian Rocket is foreseen in 2006-2007. It will hopefully coincide with the time frame of the Global Precipitation Mission, allowing to improve its tropical coverage.

Date Published: 14 April 2003
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 4899, Atmospheric and Oceanic Processes, Dynamics, and Climate Change, (14 April 2003); doi: 10.1117/12.466703

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4899:
Atmospheric and Oceanic Processes, Dynamics, and Climate Change
Zhaobo Sun; Fei-Fei Jin; Toshiki Iwasaki, Editor(s)