Ultra-High-Performance C- and L-Band Radiometer System for Future Spaceborne Ocean Missions

• Published in: IEEE journal of selected topics in applied earth observations and remote sensing Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 1670 - 1678
• Main Authors: Skou, Niels, Sobjaerg, Sten Schmidl, Kristensen, Steen Savstrup, Cappellin, Cecilia, Pontoppidan, Knud, de Lasson, Jakob Rosenkrantz, Ivashina, Marianna V., Iupikov, Oleg A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-06-2019
• Subjects: Antenna arrays; Antenna feeds; Focal plane array (FPA); microwave; Microwave radiometry; radiometer; receiver; Receivers
• ISSN: 1939-1404; 2151-1535
• DOI: 10.1109/JSTARS.2019.2894846

A next-generation real-aperture spaceborne radiometer system for high-quality ocean measurements is discussed. Instead of illuminating the antenna reflector by a classical feed array of horn antennas in a one-feed-per-beam configuration, a multi-feed-per-beam configuration is chosen. Each antenna beam is thus created by adding the outputs from many small antenna elements in the feed array, thus providing an antenna beam of unsurpassed quality. This solves the classical polarization purity and land/sea contamination issues. The concept requires many microwave receivers and fast analog-to-digital converters as well as fast digital signal processing onboard the satellite. This is discussed, and resource budgets, especially concerning power, are provided.