Blackwell W J, Braun S, Bennartz R, Velden C, DeMaria M, Atlas R, Dunion J, Marks F, Rogers R, Annane B, Leslie R V
Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington, Massachusetts, USA.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
Q J R Meteorol Soc. 2018 Nov;144(Suppl Suppl 1):16-26. doi: 10.1002/qj.3290. Epub 2018 Sep 17.
The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission was selected by NASA as part of the Earth Venture-Instrument (EVI-3) program. The overarching goal for TROPICS is to provide nearly all-weather observations of 3D temperature and humidity, as well as cloud ice and precipitation horizontal structure, at high temporal resolution to conduct high-value science investigations of tropical cyclones. TROPICS will provide rapid-refresh microwave measurements (median refresh rate better than 60 min for the baseline mission) which can be used to observe the thermodynamics of the troposphere and precipitation structure for storm systems at the mesoscale and synoptic scale over the entire storm life cycle. TROPICS comprises six CubeSats in three low-Earth orbital planes. Each CubeSat will host a high-performance radiometer to provide temperature profiles using seven channels near the 118.75 GHz oxygen absorption line, water vapour profiles using three channels near the 183 GHz water vapour absorption line, imagery in a single channel near 90 GHz for precipitation measurements (when combined with higher-resolution water vapour channels), and a single channel near 205 GHz which is more sensitive to precipitation-sized ice particles. This observing system offers an unprecedented combination of horizontal and temporal resolution to measure environmental and inner-core conditions for tropical cyclones on a nearly global scale and is a major leap forward in the temporal resolution of several key parameters needed for assimilation into advanced data assimilation systems capable of utilizing rapid-update radiance or retrieval data. Launch readiness is currently projected for late 2019.
“热带地区降水结构和风暴强度的时间分辨观测小卫星星座计划”（TROPICS）任务被美国国家航空航天局（NASA）选中，作为地球探索者仪器（EVI - 3）计划的一部分。TROPICS的总体目标是提供高时间分辨率的几乎全天候三维温度和湿度观测，以及云冰和降水水平结构观测，以开展热带气旋的高价值科学研究。TROPICS将提供快速刷新的微波测量数据（基线任务的中位数刷新速率优于60分钟），可用于在整个风暴生命周期内观测中尺度和天气尺度风暴系统的对流层热力学和降水结构。TROPICS由位于三个低地球轨道平面的六颗立方星组成。每颗立方星将搭载一台高性能辐射计，利用118.75吉赫兹氧气吸收线附近的七个通道提供温度剖面，利用183吉赫兹水汽吸收线附近的三个通道提供水汽剖面，利用90吉赫兹附近的单个通道进行降水测量成像（与更高分辨率的水汽通道结合使用），以及利用205吉赫兹附近的单个通道，该通道对降水大小的冰粒子更敏感。这个观测系统提供了前所未有的水平分辨率和时间分辨率组合，能够在几乎全球范围内测量热带气旋的环境和内核条件，是在将关键参数同化到能够利用快速更新辐射率或反演数据的先进数据同化系统所需的时间分辨率方面向前迈出的重要一步。目前预计2019年底具备发射条件。
