spase://SMWG/Observatory/NOAA/19

NOAA 19, or NOAA-N Prime, was launched 06 February 2009 at 10:22 UT aboard a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg. The 1440 kg satellite was built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. The NOAA polar operational environmental satellites collect global data on: cloud cover; surface conditions such as ice, snow, and vegetation; atmospheric temperatures; and, moisture, aerosol, and ozone distributions. They also collect and relay information from fixed and moving data platforms. The instruments on-board NOAA 19 include two radiometers, the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer/3 (AVHRR/3) and the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer/2 (SBUV-2); three sounders, the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS/4), Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A), and the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS); a space weather monitor, the Space Environment Monitor/2 (SEM-2); and an Advanced Data Collection System (ADCS). In addition, the satellite carries two search and rescue instruments: the Search and Rescue Repeater; and, the Search and Rescue Processor and three Digital Data Recorders.