Exelis has delivered the cross-track infrared sounder to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for installation in the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 spacecraft.
The sounder is designed to produce atmospheric temperature and moisture data for weather and climate prediction, Exelis said Friday.
“This advanced hyperspectral technology is providing improvements to numerical weather prediction models,“ said Eric Webster, vice president of environmental intelligence at Exelis .
The sounder is also built to measure the three-dimensional structure of atmospheric temperatures, water vapor and trace gases through its high-spectral resolution infrared technology.
The first version of the sounder was previously integrated into the NOAA/NASA Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite.
NOAA's JPSS-1 satellite is scheduled for launch in 2017.