Exploring Where Earth's Weather Meets Space Weather

Version 6 of the new limb products is now available on the ICON FTP server and the SPDF website. A draft version of the ICON CMAD is now available on the ICON website that includes detailed descriptions of the O/N₂ products, both limb and disk.  Documentation for these products is available through http links (limb and disk) and on the ICON FTP server.

If you are unfamiliar with the Calibration, Measurement, and Algorithms Document, this provides a broad view of the calibration activites and details of the algorithms as they have been updated by the product owners and implemented in the ICON Science Data Center.

This limb product compares well to the disk product that has provided O/N2 for ICON since 2020. When compared, the two retrievals show differences that can be represented by a single offset value, as they co-vary in response to actual changes in O/N2. As with all ICON products, the scientific need is for precision and both of these products meet the mission requirements.

The integration and testing processes for the ICON payload have begun! All of the instruments have been shipped to the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) in Logan Utah and integrated into the payload deck, with the Instrument Control Package due for shipment by the end of the month. IVM-B is coming soon as well, closing out the full complement of instruments.

The integration and testing - or I&T - procedures are a vital part of preparing for flight. The instruments have been built all over the country - California, Texas, and Virginia. In order to ensure that they will be able to function together as planned, they are brought together on the Payload Integration Plate (PIP). The PIP, the instruments, and the Instrument Control Package together become the science payload, which will then undergo a series of thorough vibration and thermal tests at SDL over the coming months.

Following I&T, the payload will be shipped from Utah to Orbital ATK in Virginia, where it will be integrated onto the main spacecraft “bus” - the guts of the satellite that controls communication, attitude, and other overall controls. This will happen towards the end of 2016, in preparation for launch in summer 2017.