Airborne L-band RFI observations in the smapvex08 campaign with the L-band interference suppressing radiometer

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) is a major concern for microwave radiometry. In September-October 2008, an airborne campaign for observing L-band RFI was conducted and included approximately fifty hours of flight time. The campaign included test flights in Grand Junction, Colorado, observations over soil moisture ground truth sites in Iowa and Maryland, transit and return flights from Colorado to Maryland, and dedicated RFI observing missions over urban areas. In this paper, the L-band digital backend and its RFI detection and mitigation algorithms are described. RFI statistics and examples from the airborne campaign are also presented.