CrIS Atmospheric Sounder Successfully Launched

Sounders work by taking an X-ray of the atmospheric column from ground all the way up through the clouds. The sounders flying for US and Europe provide 19 slices of the column. ITT's CriS instrument will take more than 1,000 slices. This will be critical to improving weather forecast models by providing more detailed information about moisture, temperature and pressure.

According to Robert Mitrevski, vice president and general manager, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance Systems, ITT Geospatial Systems, the CrIS instrument will provide the most precise atmospheric temperature and moisture-sounding data in advanced numerical weather prediction models. These models will improve both global and regional predictions of weather patterns, storm tracks and precipitation.

The NPP satellite will collect information for more than thirty key long-term data sets, ranging from the ozone layer and land cover to atmospheric temperatures and ice cover. The information collected will be critical for understanding the Earth's climate and its changes over time.

ITT's CrIS instrument was launched on board the NPP satellite on a Delta II rocket. It will fly at an altitude of 512 miles above the Earth and will circle the globe fourteen times a day.