ITT instrument, CrIS atmospheric sounder, launched onboard NPP satellite

ROCHESTER, N.Y., 31 Oct. 2011. The Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), an advanced atmospheric sounding instrument from ITT Corp. (NYSE:ITT), launched aboard NASA’s National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP). The next-generation U.S. climate and weather monitoring system satellite launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., with the CrIS, the first in a series of advanced operational sounders intended to provide accurate, detailed atmospheric temperature and moisture observations. ITT’s CrIS instrument flies at an altitude of 512 miles above the Earth, circling the globe 14 times a day.

Sounders take an x-ray of the atmospheric column from ground up through the clouds. Sounders now flying for the U.S. and Europe provide 19 slices of the column. ITT’s CriS instrument will cover more than 1,000 slices, improving weather forecast models by providing more detailed information about moisture, temperature, and pressure.

“The CrIS instrument will provide the most precise atmospheric temperature and moisture-sounding data in advanced numerical weather prediction models,” says Robert Mitrevski, vice president and general manager, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance Systems, ITT Geospatial Systems.