The Mission Sensor Microwave Imager, Its Applications And Validation

The Mission Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) is a multi-frequency microwave radiometric system designed to provide retrievals of the environmental parameters including sea ice morphology, sea surface wind, precipitation, atmospheric moisture content and soil moisture. It is a joint Navy/Air Force project developed by the Hughes Aircraft Company (HAC) under the direction of the Navy Space Systems Activity (NSSA) and the Air Force Space Division to be flown on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). The SSM/I is also included in the ensemble of instruments for the Navy-Remote Ocean Sensing System (N-ROSS). The Space Sensing Applications Branch of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has served as a technical consultant to NSSA beginning in 1982. NRL has also drawn up a test and evaluation plan to quantify and evaluate the performance of the instrument and its processing algorithms.