Performance evaluation of microwave radiometer carried by Shenzhou IV for land surface parameters retrieval

The multiple model microwave remote sensor is an important part of the payload carried by Shenzhou IV spacecraft launched on 30 December 2002 and is also China´s first experimental microwave remote sensing system operating in space. The system includes three kinds of microwave remote sensors, namely microwave radiometer, radar altimeter and radar scatterometer. The radiometer instrument provides global passive microwave measurements of terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric variables for the investigation of water and energy cycles. Here we discussed the retrieval of land surface parameters by using the Shenzhou IV brightness data aimed at evaluating the performance of this microwave radiometer. The results shows that the microwave radiometer observations of Shenzhou IV can be used to study seasonal and interannual changes of land surface parameters. Although compared with other satellite passive microwave sensor, the radiometer of Shenzhou IV has it´s limitation.