EO·Atlas
MWHS Microwave Humidity Sounder
Compiled from public sources on 2026-06-12. Not independently verified by nssc-cas.
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MWHS is a cross-track passive microwave humidity sounder flown on Fengyun-3 meteorological satellites.
MWHS (Microwave Humidity Sounder) is a cross-track passive microwave radiometer series developed by China's National Satellite Meteorological Center (NSMC) for atmospheric humidity profiling on Fengyun-3 meteorological satellites.[1][2] The entry covers two generations that differ substantially in channel configuration.
MWHS-1 flew on FY-3A (launched 2008) and FY-3B (launched 2010). It carries five channels in the 150 GHz and 183.31 GHz bands, providing tropospheric humidity profiles comparable to contemporaneous sounders such as AMSU-B and MHS.[1][3]
MWHS-2 flew on FY-3C (launched 2013) and subsequent Fengyun-3 satellites including FY-3D, FY-3E, and FY-3F. It carries 15 channels, adding an oxygen absorption band near 118.75 GHz to 150 GHz and 183.31 GHz humidity channels on FY-3C and FY-3D, enabling combined temperature and humidity profiling in a single instrument.[2] WMO OSCAR maintains separate instrument records for MWHS-1 and MWHS-2.[1][2]
Compositional position
- Microwave atmospheric sounding
MWHS family (MWHS-1: 5-ch 150/183 GHz humidity; MWHS-2: 15-ch adds 118.75 GHz temperature) passive microwave sounders on FY-3 series; MWHS-1 flew FY-3A/B (2008-2021), MWHS-2 flies FY-3C/D/E/F/H (2013+)
None on record.
- [1]WMO OSCAR - Details for Instrument MWHS-1agency doc2026-06-11
- [2]WMO OSCAR - Details for Instrument MWHS-2agency doc2026-06-11
- [3]Calibration Analyses for Sounding Channels of MWHS Onboard FY-3A (IEEE Xplore)peer reviewed2026-06-11