First Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) Mission Applications Workshop Summary Report

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of SmallSats (TROPICS) mission is a constellation of state-of-the-science observing platforms that will measure temperature and humidity soundings and precipitation with spatial resolution comparable to current operational passive microwave sounders but with unprecedented temporal resolution. TROPICS is a cost-capped ($30 million) Venture-class mission funded by the NASA Earth Science Division (ESD) and led by principal investigator Dr. William Blackwell from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL). The mission is comprised of a constellation of six, three-unit (3U) Cube-Sats (approximately 10 by 10 by 34 centimeters), each hosting a 12-channel passive microwave spectrometer based on the Micro-sized Microwave Atmospheric Satellite 2 (MicroMAS-2) developed at MIT LL. TROPICS will provide imagery at frequencies near 91 and 205 gigahertz, temperature sounding near 118 gigahertz, and moisture sounding near 183 gigahertz. Spatial resolution at nadir will be around 27 kilometers for temperature and 17 kilometers for moisture and precipitation with a swath width of approximately 2,000 kilometers. Both the spatial resolution and swath width are similar to the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) that is being flown as part of the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership and will fly starting in 2017 on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). In addition, TROPICS meets many of the requirements outlined in the 2007 Decadal Survey for the Precision and All-Weather Temperature and Humidity mission, which was originally envisioned as a microwave instrument in geostationary orbit. TROPICS enables temporal resolution similar to geostationary orbit but at a much lower cost, demonstrating a technology that could impact the design of future Earth-observing missions. The satellites for the TROPICS mission are slated for delivery to NASA in 2019 for launches planned no earlier than 2020. The primary mission objective of TROPICS is to relate temperature, humidity, and precipitation structure to the evolution of tropical cyclone (TC) intensity.