A Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. instrument essential for a new era in precipitation measurements has arrived in Japan where it will launch aboard NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. Ball's GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) is a multi-channel, conical-scanning, microwave radiometer that is part of an international satellite mission led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Following launch in early 2014 aboard the spaceborne GPM Core Observatory, the radiometer is part of an international satellite constellation that will capture observations of rain and snow worldwide every 3 h, as well as unprecedented 3-D views of hurricanes and snowstorms. GPM data will also contribute to the monitoring and forecasting of weather events such as droughts, floods, and hurricanes. GMI, along with the JAXA-provided Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar, will make radiometric and radar measurements of precipitation around the world and will provide the comprehensive data needed for global rain maps and climate research products. These instruments will also provide an accurate reference for calibrating other microwave radiometers in the GPM constellation.
Roughly 10.5 ft tall, the GMI instrument will rotate at 32 revolutions per minute, using four very stable calibration points on each revolution to calibrate the data it has scanned.