CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MISSION SUMMARY - INCUS -
Full Name INvestigation of Convective UpdraftS Status Approved
Mission Agencies NASA, NOAA Launch Date Nov 2026
Mission Links mission site | data access portal EOL Date Jan 2029
EO Portal Info NORAD Catalog #
International Designator
Orbit Type Inclined, non-sun-synchronous Orbit Period 94 minutes
Orbit Sense TBD Orbit Inclination 28.5 deg
Orbit Altitude 500 km Orbit Longitude
Orbit LST Repeat Cycle
Objectives and Applications Characterize the relationship between Convective Mass Flux and atmospheric environmental properties by providing novel measurements of time-differenced profiles of radar reflectivity. INCUS objectives are to determine: (1) the predominant environmental properties controlling convective mass flux in tropical convective storms; (2) the relationship between convective mass flux and high anvil clouds; (3) the relationship between convective mass flux and the type and intensity of the extreme weather produced; and then to evaluate these relationships between convective mass flux and environmental factors, high anvil clouds, and extreme weather within weather and climate models. Application: improve the nowcasting of rapidly developing convective storms by expanding the inputs to nowcasting systems.
Mission Measurements
CategoryParameterInstrument(s)
AtmosphereCloud particle properties and profile DAR (INCUS), DMR (INCUS)
Mission Instruments
DAR (INCUS) - Dynamic Atmospheric Radar
DMR (INCUS) - Dynamic Microwave Radiometer
OpenSearch Datasets No IDN OpenSearch datasets found.

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