학술논문
EQM front-end receivers at 183 and 229 GHz for the Microwave Sounder on MetOp-SG
Document Type
Conference
Author
Cuadrado-Calle, D.; Rea, S.; Auriacombe, O.; Oldfield, M.; Parow-Souchon, K.; Obeed, A.; Klugmann, D.; Rackauskas, B.; Davis, B.; Hunyor, P.; Merritt, M.; Phillips, M.; Beardsley, M.; Robins, W.; Hampton, J.; Brewster, N.; Norbury, P.; Cullum, A.; Wang, H.; Henry, M.; Shepperd, A.; Gerber, D.; Howe, C.; Burton, G.; Marshall, A.; Almond, T.; Alves, D.; Johnson, E.; Aparicio, F.; Moyna, B.; Ellison, B. N.; Thomas, B.; Brandt, M.; Philipp, M.; Sonnabend, G.; Stangier, T.; Kilian, A.; Trasatti, M.; Hammett, R.; Campbell, P.; Kangas, V.; Piironen, P.
Source
2020 XXXIIIrd General Assembly and Scientific Symposium of the International Union of Radio Science General Assembly and Scientific Symposium of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI GASS), 2020 XXXIIIrd. :1-4 Aug, 2020
Subject
Language
ISSN
2642-4339
Abstract
RAL Space has delivered four engineering qualification model (EQM) front-end receivers (FERXs) for the Microwave Sounder (MWS) and Microwave Imager (MWI) on-board the MetOp Second Generation (MetOp-SG) satellites. This mission will provide the European and wider global communities with weather forecasting services from 2022 to 2043. The two EQM FERXs developed by RAL for the MWS operate in the 183 and 229 GHz frequency ranges, featuring average double sideband (DSB) noise figures (NFs) of 5.3 and 6.2 dB, respectively. This paper presents the design and main characterisation results of these two state-of-the-art FERXs for the MWS and compares their performance with other in-orbit microwave sounding instruments, including those on-board MetOp.