# AMSU-B
*sensor . products*

AMSU-B is a cross-track passive microwave humidity sounder using water-vapour absorption bands.

## Specifications
- **manufacturer**: eads-astrium
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **sensor**: {"instrument_family":"radiometer","measurement_principle":"passive","frequency_bands_ghz":[89,150,183.31],"scan_type":"cross-track"}
- **entity type**: sensor
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-12
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: eads-astrium
- **attributes**: {"kind":"sensor","manufacturer":"eads-astrium","description":"AMSU-B is a cross-track passive microwave humidity sounder using water-vapour absorption bands.","deployment_context":"orbital","sensor":"{\"instrument_family\":\"radiometer\",\"measurement_principle\":\"passive\",\"frequency_bands_ghz\":[89,150,183.31],\"scan_type\":\"cross-track\"}"}
- **technology**: microwave-radiometry

## Editorial
AMSU-B (Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-B) is a cross-track passive microwave radiometer designed for atmospheric humidity profiling using water-vapour absorption bands. It operates five channels at 89 GHz, 150 GHz, 183.31+/-1 GHz, 183.31+/-3 GHz, and 183.31+/-7 GHz.[^oscar-amsu-b] The instrument scans cross-track, providing measurements sensitive to tropospheric water vapour at multiple altitudes.[^nwpsaf-amsu-b]

AMSU-B was built by Northrop Grumman and flew on NOAA-15 (from August 1998), NOAA-16, and NOAA-17.[^oscar-amsu-b] It operated in conjunction with AMSU-A, which provided the paired temperature-profiling channels on those platforms. From NOAA-18 onward and on all three MetOp satellites, AMSU-B was succeeded by the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS).[^oscar-amsu-b]

## Sources
- [oscar-amsu-b] | WMO OSCAR - Details for Instrument AMSU-B | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/amsu_b | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-11
- [nwpsaf-amsu-b] | NWP SAF - Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-B (AMSU-B) | https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/software/aapp/aapp-overview/amsu-b/ | tier=operator-engineering | accessed=2026-06-11
- [wikipedia-amsu] | Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit - Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_microwave_sounding_unit | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-11

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/amsu-b
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)