Suomi NPP Measures Water Vapor from Space

The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite mission acquired its first measurements on November 8, 2011. The global image shows the ATMS channel 18 data, which measures water vapor in the lower atmosphere. Tropical Storm Sean is visible as a patch of blue in the Atlantic Ocean off the Southeastern coast of the United States.

As a passive microwave radiometer, the ATMS instrument can collect data even when it is cloudy. Paired with the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), also aboard Suomi NPP, the two can produce global datasets of high-resolution temperature and moisture profiles that are used for forecasting and studying weather.

See http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NPP/news/first-light.html