Design, development and calibration of the MWR microwave radiometer on board Sentinel-3

Author

Palacios Lazaro, Miguel Angel ; Bergada Pujades, Marc ; Gonzalez Sola, Raquel ; Gamonal Coto, Ataulfo ; Garcia Fernandez, Jose Luis ; Camacho, Yolanda

Author_Institution

AIRBUS Defence &Space, CASA Espacio, Madrid, Spain

fYear

2014

fDate

6-9 Oct. 2014

Firstpage

1671

Lastpage

1674

Abstract

The MWR instrument builds, together with the SRAL altimeter, the Sentinel-3 (S3) topography mission in the frame of the EC Copernicus program. The MWR provides information for tropospheric path correction of SRAL measurements, and its data can also be used for determining surface emissivity and soil moisture over land, for surface energy budget investigations and ice characterization. The MWR is a dual frequency Noise Injection Radiometer working at K and Ka band (23.8 & 36.5 GHz) embarking a main reflector antenna and a dual frequency horn for autonomous calibration. This paper briefly presents the design and development of the MWR, and is especially focused on the on-ground calibration campaign of the radiometer.

Keywords

calibration; geophysical equipment; horn antennas; ice; moisture; radiometers; reflector antennas; remote sensing; soil; surface energy; EC Copernicus program; Ka band; MWR instrument; MWR microwave radiometer; SRAL altimeter measurements; Sentinel-3 topography mission; autonomous calibration; dual frequency horn; dual frequency noise injection radiometer; frequency 23.8 GHz; frequency 36.5 GHz; ice characterization; on-ground calibration campaign; reflector antenna; soil moisture; surface emissivity; surface energy budget investigations; tropospheric path correction; Accuracy; Calibration; Earth; Instruments; Microwave radiometry; Noise; Temperature measurement; Accuracy; Calibration; Copernicus; NIR; Radiometer; Sensitivity;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Conference (EuMC), 2014 44th European

Conference_Location

Rome

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/EuMC.2014.6986776

Filename

6986776