Monday, August 5, 2024
reading time: 2 minutes
Airbus has been selected by the French Space Agency (CNES) to design and build two next-generation microwave radiometers, contributing to the Atmospheric Observing System (AOS) through the C²OMODO (Convective Nucleus Observations through Microwave Derivatives in trOpics) mission. This initiative, a collaboration between the United States, Canada, Japan, Italy and France, aims to advance our understanding of the interactions between aerosols, clouds, atmospheric convection and precipitation. The AOS will consist of six satellites along with airborne and ground-based orbital platforms, providing critical data to improve weather, air quality and climate forecasts.
“Working on climate missions is really important to us at Airbus. Just a few weeks after the launch of the EarthCARE mission with Europe and Japan, I am honoured to be part of another climate mission, this time led by NASA with international partners,” he said. Alain Fauré, Head of Space Systems at Airbus. “I would like to thank the French Space Agency, CNES, for its support of European industry: with this contract, Airbus is strengthening its role in helping to better understand clouds, weather and climate.”
C²OMODO is set to provide an unprecedented global perspective on vertical air motions and precipitation characteristics within convective storms. This advance will greatly advance our understanding of the formation of extreme precipitation and improve the representation of these processes in computer-based weather models, leading to more accurate global weather forecasts.
The C²OMODO high-frequency microwave radiometers, developed in Toulouse, France, will be mounted on two AOS satellites, cooperating in an inclined orbit. The AOS-Storm mission, led by the United States, and the Precipitation Measurement Mission (PMM), led by Japan, will work together to achieve this goal.
