A compact imaging L-band radiometer for remote sensing of salinity in the coastal zone

An imaging airborne salinity remote sensing system has been developed under the sponsorship of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to remotely measure salinity in coastal zones to an accuracy of 1 ppt without pixel averaging. The system is capable of performing wide area mapping at a rate of 100 km²/hr from low flying aircraft. Called the Scanning Low-Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SLFMR), the system is designed to operate from a small single engine aircraft. The system operates at 1.4 GHz, and utilizes a 64 element dipole antenna array to project up to 8 beams (6 usable) cross track to the direction of the flight path. This paper concerns the design and performance of the system