Advanced technology microwave sounder on the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System

The advanced technology microwave sounder (ATMS) is a new generation microwave instrument in development for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). NASA/GSFC has been responsible for development costs and the first flight unit, while the NPOESS Integrated Program Office (IPO) is responsible for future production units. The first ATMS prototype flight unit will fly on the NASA, NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite. The production units will fly on NPOESS satellites. Design goals on ATMS include an instrument built with approximately one-third of the volume, mass and power compared to it's predecessor, AMSU, with equal or better performance. These goals have proven to be a difficult challenge for the ATMS development. This paper focuses on the NPOESS production units including lessons learned from the development phase, changes and improvements for NPOESS from the prototype flight unit, and status and anticipated performance for NPOESS.