Aerospace: Microwave sensing from orbit: Enhanced devices penetrate cloud cover to provide data for weather prediction and terrain analysis

Microwave sensors are emerging as a sensitive and reliable tool for monitoring the earth from satellites. Used in conjunction with the traditional sensors of visible and infrared light, they are extending present capabilities of global weather forecasts and local severe storm watch. Unlike visible or infrared sensors, microwave devices can “see through” clouds. This is a real advantage when one remembers that some regions of the earth, like parts of Venezuela, are nearly always covered with clouds. While cloud pattern is an important part of storm watch, other vital signs — temperature, humidity, and wind fields — must also be monitored. These parameters can be sensed better by microwave devices to give a fuller measure of the strength of a storm or weather front.