Instrument | Status/ Accuracy | Instrument Description | Measurement Technology | Timeline |
ABI Advanced Baseline Imager | Operational
| Detects clouds, cloud properties, water vapour, land and sea surface temperatures, dust, aerosols, volcanic ash, fires, total ozone, snow and ice cover, vegetation index. | n/a | |
ATMS Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder | Operational
| Collects microwave radiance data that when combined with the CrIS data will permit calculation of atmospheric temperature and water vapour profiles. | Absorption-band MW radiometer/spectrometer | |
DPR Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar | Operational
| Measures precipitation rate classified by rain and snow, in latitudes up to 65 degrees. | Cloud and precipitation radar | |
GMI GPM Microwave Imager | Operational
| Measures rainfall rates over oceans and land, combined rainfall structure and surface rainfall rates with associated latent heating. Used to produce three hour, daily, and monthly total rainfall maps over oceans and land. | Multi-purpose imaging MW radiometer | |
MHS Microwave Humidity Sounder | Operational
| Atmospheric humidity profiles, cloud cover, cloud liquid, water content, ice boundaries and precipitation data.
MHS on NOAA-18 is considered failed following an anomaly on 21 October 2018. | Absorption-band MW radiometer/spectrometer | |
OLCI Ocean and Land Colour Imager | Operational
| Marine and land services. | n/a | |
PR Precipitation Radar | Operational
| Precipitation radar. | Cloud and precipitation radar | |
CPR (EarthCARE) Cloud Profiling Radar (EarthCARE) | Being developed
| Measurement of cloud properties, light precipitation, vertical motion. | Cloud and precipitation radar | |
DAR (INCUS) Dynamic Atmospheric Radar | Being developed
| Measures time-differenced profiles of radar reflectivity for convective mass flux | Cloud and precipitation radar | |
GXI GeoXO Imager | Being developed
| Detects clouds, cloud properties, water vapour, land and sea surface temperatures, dust, aerosols, volcanic ash, fires, total ozone, snow and ice cover, vegetation index. | n/a | |
MWI Microwave Imager | Being developed
| Measure cloud liquid water content, solid/liquid precipitation information, total column water vapour and temperature profiles, sea ice parameters, sea surface temperature, sea surface wind speed. | Multi-purpose imaging MW radiometer | |
MWS Microwave Sounder | Being developed
| All-weather night-day temperature sounding | Absorption-band MW radiometer/spectrometer | |
ATLID ATmospheric LIDar | Approved
| Derivation of cloud and aerosol properties - Measurement of molecular and particle backscatter in Rayleigh, co-polar and cross-polar Mie channels. | n/a | |