Measurement of small antenna reflector losses for radiometer calibration budget

Author

Skou, Niels

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electromagn. Syst., Tech. Univ. Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark

Volume

35

Issue

4

fYear

1997

fDate

7/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

967

Lastpage

971

Abstract

Antenna reflector losses play an important role in the calibration budget for a microwave radiometer. If the losses are small, they are difficult to measure by traditional means. However, they can be assessed directly by radiometric means using the sky brightness temperature as incident radiation. This paper describes how such measurements are carried out as well as a suitable experimental setup. The main reflector of the European Space Agency´s MIMR system is used to demonstrate the principle

Keywords

antenna testing; atmospheric measuring apparatus; atmospheric techniques; calibration; geophysical equipment; geophysical techniques; microwave antennas; microwave measurement; millimetre wave antennas; millimetre wave measurement; oceanographic equipment; oceanographic techniques; radiometers; radiometry; reflector antennas; remote sensing; ESA; MIMR; atmosphere; equipment; geophysical measurement technique; incident radiation; instrument; land surface; meteorology; microwave radiometer; microwave radiometry; ocean; radiometer calibration; radiometer calibration budget; satellite remote sensing; sea surface; sky brightness temperature; small antenna reflector loss; terrain mapping; Antenna measurements; Brightness temperature; Calibration; Instruments; Loss measurement; Microwave radiometry; Reflection; Reflector antennas; Temperature measurement; Temperature sensors;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0196-2892

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/36.602538

Filename

602538