Citation for EarthCARE Mission Requirements Document

Title
EarthCARE Mission Requirements Document 

Summary
ESA's EarthCARE (Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) mission - scheduled to be launched in 2024 - is the largest and most complex Earth Explorer to date and will advance our understanding of the role that clouds and aerosols play in reflecting incident solar radiation back into space and trapping infrared radiation emitted from Earth's surface.

The mission is being implemented in cooperation with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). It carries four scientific instruments. The Atmospheric Lidar (ATLID), operating at 355 nm wavelength and equipped with a high-spectral resolution and depolarisation receiver, measures profiles of aerosols and thin clouds. The Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR, contribution of JAXA), operates at 94 GHz to measure clouds and precipitation, as well as vertical motion through its Doppler functionality. The Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) provides across-track information of clouds and aerosols. The Broad-Band Radiometer (BBR) measures the outgoing reflected solar and emitted thermal radiation in order to derive broad-band radiative fluxes at the top of atmosphere. 

The Mission Requirement Document defines the scientific mission objectives and observational requirements of EarthCARE. The document has been written by the ESA-JAXA Joint Mission Advisory Group for EarthCARE.

Citation
T. Wehr, editor. 2006. EarthCARE Mission Requirements Document. Earth and Mission Science Division, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa.earthcare-mrd.2006

Download: EarthCARE Mission Requirements Document