On the use of Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites for studying fast-evolving atmospheric and climate

Posted on December 13, 2016

Most of the advanced remote sensing instruments (e.g., radar, lidar, microwave imager/sounder, hyper-spectral radiometers) are placed on Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites. Their revisit time of a specific location on Earth is about 2 -12 hrs. As such, it is difficult to use LEO satellites to monitor or study a fast-evolving phenomenon such as severe storms. On the other hand, geostationary satellites (GEO) can easily capture these fast processes but lack advanced instruments (e.g., no microwave sensors, nor radar or lidar). In this short talk, I will discuss possibly solutions and propose ways to use existing LEOs for studying fast-evolving processes in atmospheric and climate sciences.