The Airborne Earth Science Microwave Imaging Radiometer (AESMIR) is a passive microwave airborne imager covering the 6-100 GHz bands that are essential for observing key Earth System elements such as precipitation, snow, soil moisture, ocean winds, sea ice, sea surface temperature, vegetation, etc.

AESMIR’s channels are configured to enable it to simulate various channels on multiple satellite radiometers, including AMSR-E, SSMI, SSMIS, AMSU, ATMS, TMI, GMI, ATMS, & MIS. Programmable scan modes include conical and cross-track scanning. As such, AESMIR can serve as an inter-satellite calibration tool for constellation missions (e.g., GPM) as well as for long-term multi-satellite data series (Climate Data Records).

The most unique/cutting edge feature of the instrument is its coverage of key water cycle microwave bands in a single mechanical package—making efficient & cost-effective use of limited space on research aircraft, and maximizing the possibilities for co-flying with other instruments to provide synergistic science. State-of-the-art calibration, fully-polarimetric (4-Stokes) observations, and the ability to accommodate large/heavy sensors (up to 300 kg) are other features of AESMIR. AESMIR currently flies on the NASA P-3 aircraft.

With these capabilities, AESMIR is an Earth Science facility for new microwave remote sensing discovery, pre-launch algorithm development, and post-launch Calibration/Validation activities, as well as serving as a technology risk reduction testbed for upcoming spaceborne radiometers. In the latter role, AESMIR is already supporting the GPM, Aquarius, and SMAP missions.

The Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) is a scanning LIDAR developed and used by NASA for observing the Earth's topography for several scientific applications, foremost of which is the measurement of changing arctic and antarctic icecaps and glaciers. It typically flies on aircraft at an altitude between 400 and 800 meters above ground level, and measures topography to an accuracy of ten to twenty centimeters by incorporating measurements from GPS (global positioning system) receivers and inertial navigation system (INS) attitude sensors.

The ATM instruments are based at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) in Virginia. They commonly fly aboard the NASA P3-B based at WFF and have flown aboard other P-3 aircraft, the NASA DC-8, several twin-otters (DHC-6), and a C-130; they can fly on most Twin Otter/King Air-class aircraft. The ATM has flown surveys in Greenland nearly every year since 1993. Other uses have included measurement of sea ice, verification of satellite radar and laser altimeters, and measurement of sea-surface elevation and ocean wave characteristics. The altimeter often flies in conjunction with a variety of other instruments. The ATM has been participating in NASA's Operation IceBridge since 2009.

2D-STAR is a dual-polarized L-band radiometer that employs aperture synthesis in two dimensions. This airborne instrument is the natural evolution of the Electronically Scanned Thinned Array Radiometer, which employs aperture synthesis only in the across-track dimension, and represents a further step in the development of aperture synthesis for remote sensing applications. 2D-STAR was successfully tested in June 2003 and, then, participated in the SMEX03 and SMEX04 soil moisture experiments.

The 2D-STAR instrument was developed as a research instrument with the flexibility to test options in the evolution of the technology as it existed in ESTAR (synthesis in one dimension, one polarization, and analog processing) to aperture synthesis in two dimensions, dual polarization, and digital processing. The 2D-STAR was designed to fly on a P-3 research aircraft (the NASA Orion P-3B), and to simplify installation, the size was chosen to be similar to that of ESTAR. Several options, such as the choice of the antenna array and number of bits in the digital processor, were made to accommodate potential research rather than efficiency of design.

In 1991, NASA initiated an airborne remote sensing program in conjunction with coordinated surface measurements for determining the mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet, which plays in important role in the rise of global sea level. Starting in 1995, NASA combined various efforts on the mass-balance studies into a coordinated effort called Program in Arctic Regional Climate Assessment (PARCA). The University of Kansas has been participating in this program to make airborne ice thickness measurements using coherent radar depth sounders. Since 1993, the authors have collected a large volume of ice-thickness data over the ice sheet. They have demonstrated that coherent radars can acquire ice thickness and internal structure data over the thickest part of the ice sheet and outlet glaciers located around the ice margin.

The AXCTDs measure the ocean salinity, or saltiness (proportional to conductivity), and temperature, which are necessary 1) for computing ocean density, stability and buoyancy, and 2) for identifying different ocean water masses.

The utility of millimeter-wave radars have been successfully used for cloud sensing and cloud microphysical studies. Studies of the impact of cloud feedbacks on the earth's radiation budget have underscored the importance of having a means of measuring the vertical distribution of clouds. Millimeter-wave radars can provide this information under most conditions, with high resolution, using a relatively compact system.

The Airborne Cloud Radar (ACR) for profiling cloud vertical structure was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Massachusetts in 1996. It is a W-band (95 GHz) polarimetric Doppler radar designed as a prototype airborne facility for the development of the 94 GHz Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) for NASA CloudSat mission.

The ACR is a third-generation millimeter-wave cloud radar. While adopting the well tested techniques used by its predecessors, ACR also has a number of new features including an internal calibration loop, frequency agility, digital I and Q demodulation, digital matched filtering, and a W-band low-noise amplifier.