Microwave Remote Sensing Group

Department of Meteorology
Texas A & M University

The activities of the Microwave Remote Sensing Group center on 4 satellite instruments: the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) on the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM), the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I), the SSM/T-2 on the current operational DMSP satellites, and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR/E) on the PM platform of the Earth Observing System (EOS). In all cases the principal activity is in the development of algorithms for the retrieval of geophysical parameters from the observations of the repsective intruments. There is a secondary activity in the case of the AMSR/E and TMI for advising in the development and calibration of the sensors.

We attempt to derive algorithms as an excercise in physics. Our retrievals are based upon radiative transfer models which we try to make as realistic as both possible and necessary. Many important geophysical parameters will not yield to this treatment and must be handled on a more empirical basis. In spite of their importance, we will leave these parameters to other groups. Our strength is in understanding the physics of the measurements.