The Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS): a sensor for operational meteorological remote sensing

The Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) is one of the key instruments under development for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program. CrIS is an interferometric sounding sensor which measures upwelling Earth radiation at very high spectral resolution and uses these data combined with data from passive microwave instrumentation to construct vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature and moisture. This paper focusses on the instrument development status of the CrIS for a flight of opportunity on the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) in late 2005.