On Nov. 27, JAXA revealed to the media at the Tsukuba Space Center an engineering model* of the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), which will be aboard the Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (Earth CARE).
The CPR is a sensor to observe cloud distribution by emitting radiation to the ground and receiving its reflection wave. It is under development by JAXA in cooperation with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT).

*An engineering model is manufactured in almost the same manner as the actual flight model in order to test technical matters. With the engineering model, we can perform a test under harsher conditions than the actual flight environment to acquire necessary data for establishing mechanical and electric designs, test methods, and the manufacturing process. After confirming if electric, structural and thermal designs of this engineering model properly perform their functions, we will move to the next development phase of flight model manufacturing.