Description

The primary purpose of MWHS is moisture sounding in cloudy regions. There are five channels (150–183 GHz) for the early MWHS model as the 150GHz channel is polarized in both vertical and horizontal direction. MWHS has a nominal IFOV of 15 km on surface at nadir. This instrument is similar to the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU)-B that flies on NOAA satellite.

183.31GHz in the microwave frequency bands has the strongest absorption lines to water vapor in the atmosphere. In implementation 183.31GHz is chosen as the primary detection frequency in the vicinity of the three channels set. These microwave radiation show different responses of different atmospheric water vapor levels. You can use 300hPa, 850hPa, 500 HPA and different steam atmosphere heights.

At the same time, the 150GHz mechanism is still in the area of atmospheric window bipolar detection channels, as the background of the Earth's surface for detection of microwave radiation. By comprehensive application of the five channel mechanism for detecting inversion results, you can get the vertical distribution of atmospheric humidity.

Satellite	FY-3A ,  FY-3B
No. Channels	5
Spatial Resolution	16km
Weight	44kg
Power	60W

Characteristics

Channel	Center frequency (GHz)	Major gas absorption	Unilateral bandwidth (MHz)	NEΔT(K)	Frequency stability (MHz)	Antenna beam efficiency	Receiver work mode	Dynamic range (K)
1	150(V)	Window	1000	0.9	50	≥95%	Bilateral	3~340
2	150(H)	Window	1000	0.9	50	≥95%	Bilateral	3~340
3	183.31±1	H2O	500	1.1	30	≥95%	Bilateral	3~340
4	183.31±3	H2O	1000	0.9	30	≥95%	Bilateral	3~340
5	183.31±7	H2O	2000	0.9	30	≥95%	Bilateral	3~340

Data and Products

Satellite	Instrument	Datasets
FY-3B	MWHS-I	L1 data,  L2L3 product
FY-3A	MWHS-I	L1 data,  L2L3 product

Calibration and Validation

MWHS-I calibration and validation