INSTRUMENT 02 OF 5 . GEN 2Precipitation Radar
Precipitation Radar
Precipitation radar sees storms from the inside. Unlike satellites that observe only cloud tops or reduce rainfall to a blurred estimate, radar slices through the precipitation column in three dimensions — showing where precipitation intensity is strongest through the storm’s depth, where rain becomes snow, and how high the storm towers. Radar reveals the storm’s complete anatomy, layer by layer.
Overview
Precipitation radar sends pulses straight down and times the returning echoes to reveal the storm layer by layer—showing precipitation intensity through the column, the melting layer, and storm-top height. Unlike passive instruments, it resolves a narrow three-dimensional slice of the storm.
- Vertical detail
- 250 m*
- Horizontal detail
- ~5 km*
- Sensitivity
- ~0.2 mm/h*
The MRI of the storm.
Every other instrument is a photograph of a storm from the outside — you see the cloud, maybe guess how bad it is. A precipitation radar is the MRI: it slices the storm open and shows you the structure inside, floor by floor, including the exact height where the rain freezes into snow.
It reads how precipitation changes through the depth of the storm, whether that’s a violent convective burst or a gentle widespread soak, and how far the storm towers.
The catch is the same as an MRI: it scans one narrow strip at a time. It trades a wide field of view for something the other instruments cannot provide — the storm’s internal vertical structure.
Send a pulse, time the echoes
Radar looks straight down and sends its own pulse into the storm, timing the echoes to build a vertical slice — a curtain showing how precipitation changes at each height, where the rain turns to snow (the bright band), and how tall the storm reaches.
Where a passive instrument estimates the rain as one blurred number through the whole column, radar resolves it layer by layer.
One slice, the storm’s anatomy
The three-dimensional physics no passive instrument can directly resolve — and the high-detail reference that keeps the wide-area rain map honest.
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3-D precipitation-rate profile
How precipitation intensity changes from storm top towards the surface.
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Precipitation type & melting layer
Rain vs. snow vs. mixed; the freezing-level bright band.
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Storm-top height & convective depth
How tall the storm towers.
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Convective vs. stratiform structure
A violent burst or a widespread soak.
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Latent-heating profiles
The vertical heat release that drives storm dynamics.
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The calibration reference
Vertical structure improves microwave precipitation retrievals.
The measurement that resolves the storm’s anatomy
Spaceborne precipitation radar is a mature, operational government modality — decades of it. The heritage is what makes the physics real; the DeepSky question is a matter of orbit, not of whether the measurement works.
Constellation Foundation
The Precipitation Radar shows what is happening inside the storm. The rest of the constellation shows the atmosphere feeding it, the clouds surrounding it, and the surface conditions it leaves behind.
THE FIVE INSTRUMENTS ARE ANNOUNCED. SEE WHAT THEY ARE BUILT FOR.
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