Calibration of a ground based radiometer for a one-year experiment in antarctica : A contribution to SMOS calibration

In recent years there has been a growing interest on the part of the remote sensing community in exploiting the Antarctic area, in particular the plateau where the Dome-C base is located, for the calibration and validation of data from satellite-borne microwave radiometers. With a view to the launching of new low-frequency satellite sensors, an experimental activity was started at Dome-C . In this paper, the preparations relative to a new campaign, in particular the design and calibration strategy of a L-band microwave radiometer, are presented.