Polarimetric mode of MIRAS

Author

Martín-Neira, Manuel ; Ribó, Serni ; Martín-Polegre, Arturo J.

Author_Institution

Eur. Space Res. & Technol. Centre, Eur. Space Agency, Noordwijk, Netherlands

Volume

40

Issue

8

fYear

2002

fDate

8/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1755

Lastpage

1768

Abstract

The L-band Microwave Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS), scheduled to be flown as single payload on board the European Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, has a very wide field of view and synthesizes narrow beams by means of two-dimensional (2-D) interferometry, the same concept used in radio astronomy. Wide field of view is indeed a key feature of this radiometer, which leads naturally to the measurement of the full vector of brightness temperatures of the image. This paper analyzes the theory of polarimetry in the 2-D wide-field-of-view microwave interferometry and describes the way MIRAS will measure the polarimetric brightness temperatures.

Keywords

aerospace instrumentation; electromagnetic wave polarisation; geophysical equipment; microwave measurement; radiometers; radiowave interferometry; remote sensing; European Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission; L-band; MIRAS; Microwave Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis; SMOS mission; brightness temperatures; field of view; microwave interferometry; polarimetric brightness temperatures; polarimetric mode; two-dimensional interferometry; Brightness temperature; Extraterrestrial measurements; L-band; Microwave imaging; Microwave radiometry; Payloads; Radio interferometry; SMOS mission; Sea measurements; Two dimensional displays;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0196-2892

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TGRS.2002.802489

Filename

1036004