CONAE Microwave Radiometer (MWR) counts to Tb algorithm and on-orbit validation

A joint international science mission (Aquarius/SAC-D) between NASA and the Argentine Space Agency (Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales, CONAE) was launched on June 10, 2011. The Microwave Radiometer (MWR), flown on board of SAC-D, complements the prime sensor, Aquarius L-band radiometer/scatterometer, by providing simultaneous spatially collocated environmental measurements such as ocean surface wind speed, oceanic rain rate, integrated atmospheric water vapor, and sea ice concentration, which aid in retrieving accurate Sea Surface Salinity (SSS). This paper presents the brightness temperature algorithm and on orbit validation for the newest version (V6.0), which includes a radiometer system non-linearity correction. Post launch analysis was conducted to perform antenna pattern correction and other radiometric biases correction using inter-satellite radiometric comparison with the US Navy´s WindSat radiometer during a 6 month period of MWR on-orbit measurements.