CAROLS: a new airborne L-band radiometer for ocean surface and land observations

CAROLS: a new airborne L-band radiometer for ocean surface and land observations

The "Cooperative Airborne Radiometer for Ocean and Land Studies" (CAROLS) L-Band radiometer was designed and built as a copy of the EMIRAD II radiometer constructed by the Technical University of Denmark team. It is a fully polarimetric and direct sampling correlation radiometer. It is ins...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 719 - 742
Main Authors: Zribi, Mehrez, Pardé, Mickael, Boutin, Jacquline, Fanise, Pascal, Hauser, Daniele, Dechambre, Monique, Kerr, Yann, Leduc-Leballeur, Marion, Reverdin, Gilles, Skou, Niels, Søbjærg, Sten, Albergel, Clement, Calvet, Jean Christophe, Wigneron, Jean Pierre, Lopez-Baeza, Ernesto, Rius, Antonio, Tenerelli, Joseph
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-01-2011
MDPI
Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI)
Subjects:
Aircraft
Calibration
CAROLS
Design
Ecology, environment
Ecosystems
Electronic mail systems
L band
Life Sciences
ocean salinity
radiometer
Radiometers
Receivers & amplifiers
Salinity
Sensors
SMOS
soil moisture
Temperature
France
Spain
ANE, France
ANE, Denmark
ANE, Europe, Biscay Bay
MED, Spain, Valencia
L band
SMOS
radiometer
soil moisture
CAROLS
ocean salinity
Ocean salinity
Soil moisture
L-band
Radiometer
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Description
Summary:The "Cooperative Airborne Radiometer for Ocean and Land Studies" (CAROLS) L-Band radiometer was designed and built as a copy of the EMIRAD II radiometer constructed by the Technical University of Denmark team. It is a fully polarimetric and direct sampling correlation radiometer. It is installed on board a dedicated French ATR42 research aircraft, in conjunction with other airborne instruments (C-Band scatterometer-STORM, the GOLD-RTR GPS system, the infrared CIMEL radiometer and a visible wavelength camera). Following initial laboratory qualifications, three airborne campaigns involving 21 flights were carried out over South West France, the Valencia site and the Bay of Biscay (Atlantic Ocean) in 2007, 2008 and 2009, in coordination with in situ field campaigns. In order to validate the CAROLS data, various aircraft flight patterns and maneuvers were implemented, including straight horizontal flights, circular flights, wing and nose wags over the ocean. Analysis of the first two campaigns in 2007 and 2008 leads us to improve the CAROLS radiometer regarding isolation between channels and filter bandwidth. After implementation of these improvements, results show that the instrument is conforming to specification and is a useful tool for Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite validation as well as for specific studies on surface soil moisture or ocean salinity.
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ISSN:1424-8220
1424-8220
DOI:10.3390/s110100719