On-orbit performance of High Temperature Noise Source (HTS) for advanced microwave scanning radiometer 2 (AMSR2) onboard the GCOM-W satellite

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) was developed and provided to Global Change Observation Mission satellite (GCOM-W) [1][2] led by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). AMSR2 observes the global water and energy cycling, such as water vapor, precipitation, sea surface temperature, soil moisture, etc. AMSR2 mounted on the GCOM-W satellite was launched by H-IIA Rocket in 2012 as a successor of AMSR-E[3] on EOS-Aqua and AMSR on ADEOS-II[4]. In this paper, the evaluation result about High Temperature Noise Source (HTS) performance as one of calibrators on orbit and its future aspect are described.