The french-indian MEGHA-TROPIQUES satellite is devoted to the atmospheric research. The data collected by the satellite will allow to improve our knowledge on the water cycle contribution to the climate dynamic in the tropical atmosphere and our understanding of the processes linked to the tropical convection. CNES and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will share joint responsibility for the satellite and science missions, with CNES acting as prime contractor for some of the instruments.

The launch from Sriharikota base, India, took place on October 12, 2011.

The basic principles of the MEGHA-TROPIQUES mission are to:

provide simultaneous measurements of several elements of the atmospheric water cycle: water vapour, clouds, condensed water in clouds, precipitation and evaporation,
measure the corresponding radiative budget at the top of the atmosphere,
ensure high temporal sampling in order to characterise the life cycle of the convective system and to obtain significant statistics.

MEGHA-TROPIQUES is a mini-satellite using an indian platform (IRS). Its payload is constituted of:

MADRAS: a microwave imager aimed mainly at studying precipitation and clouds properties,
SAPHIR: a 6 channels microwave radiometer for the retrieval of water vapour vertical profiles and horizontal distribution,
SCARAB: a radiometer devoted to the measurement of outgoing radiative fluxes at the top of the atmosphere.

First part of the first MADRAS image (9 bands)
showing part of Saoudi Arabia and India.
The quick looks were made from raw data:
raw numeric data without instrument
geometry correction (conical scanning)

Raw data on one orbit of MADRAS 89V channel (conical scanning)

Raw data from SAPHIR instrument channel 6 on one orbit (orbit 44). SAPHIR is a microwave sounder dedicated to produce humidity profiles of the atmosphere.

Latest Update 09/03/2012
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