Investigation of convective updrafts (INCUS): status after phase A

Simone Tanelli; Ziad S. Haddad; Susan van den Heever

doi:10.1117/12.2677734

5 October 2023 Investigation of convective updrafts (INCUS): status after phase A

Simone Tanelli, Ziad S. Haddad, Susan van den Heever

Proceedings Volume 12689, CubeSats, SmallSats, and Hosted Payloads for Remote Sensing VII; 1268904 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677734
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2023, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

RainCube (Radar in a CubeSat) and TEMPEST-D (Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems - Demonstration) demonstrated in 2018 that deployment of active and passive microwave sensors to monitor storms and precipitation from space is possible on platforms as small as 6U CubeSats. Despite their implementation as high-risk technology demonstrations, with very low budgets compared to their predecessors, they both survived more than two years in orbit (well beyond their commitments). These demonstrations opened the gates to satisfy several long-standing unmet needs by the scientific and operational weather and climate communities. Among them is the need to observe the evolution of the vertical structure of convective storms in the Tropics at the temporal scales relevant to convective processes (i.e., tens of seconds to few minutes) in order to advance our understanding of convective processes and the environmental conditions behind them via modeling and analysis. The INCUS (Investigation of Convective Updrafts) mission concept aims at addressing this need by deploying 3 small satellites each carrying an augmented version of the RainCube radar. One of the 3 small satellites also includes a millimeter wave radiometer inherited from TEMPEST-D. In this presentation we present the status of the INCUS project at the end of Phase A.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Simone Tanelli, Ziad S. Haddad, and Susan van den Heever "Investigation of convective updrafts (INCUS): status after phase A", Proc. SPIE 12689, CubeSats, SmallSats, and Hosted Payloads for Remote Sensing VII, 1268904 (5 October 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677734

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