A new generation of small satellite radiometers for earth atmospheric remote sensing from space

We present recent work to develop and demonstrate nanosatelite technologies for earth atmospheric remote sensing using microwave radiometry. Microwave instrumentation is particularly well suited for nanosatellite implementation, as the sensor requirements for power, pointing, and spatial resolution (aperture size) can be accommodated by a nanosatellite platform. The Microsize Microwave Atmospheric Satellite (MicroMAS) is a 3U CubeSat scheduled to launch on May 6, 2014 to the International Space Station, where it will be deployed for a 100-day mission. MicroMAS will fly a nine-channel spectrometer measuring upwelling thermal emission and scattering near the 118.75-GHz oxygen absorption line. The Microwave Radiometer Technology Acceleration (MiRaTA) CubeSat is now under development for the NASA Earth Science Technology Office. MiRaTA is a 3U Cubesat with a tri-band sounder (60, 183, and 207 GHz) and a GPS radio occultation (GPS-RO) sensor. MiRaTA will launch in 2016. Constellation missions and small satellites with high performance and high reliability for potential operational use will also be discussed.