학술논문
SMAP L-Band Microwave Radiometer: Instrument Design and First Year on Orbit
Document Type
Periodical
Author
Piepmeier, J.R.; Focardi, P.; Horgan, K.A.; Knuble, J.; Ehsan, N.; Lucey, J.; Brambora, C.; Brown, P.R.; Hoffman, P.J.; French, R.T.; Mikhaylov, R.L.; Kwack, E.; Slimko, E.M.; Dawson, D.E.; Hudson, D.; Peng, J.; Mohammed, P.N.; De Amici, G.; Freedman, A.P.; Medeiros, J.; Sacks, F.; Estep, R.; Spencer, M.W.; Chen, C.W.; Wheeler, K.B.; Edelstein, W.N.; O'Neill, P.E.; Njoku, E.G.
Source
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on. 55(4):1954-1966 Apr, 2017
Subject
Language
ISSN
0196-2892
1558-0644
1558-0644
Abstract
The Soil Moisture Active–Passive (SMAP) L-band microwave radiometer is a conical scanning instrument designed to measure soil moisture with 4% volumetric accuracy at 40-km spatial resolution. SMAP is NASA’s first Earth Systematic Mission developed in response to its first Earth science decadal survey. Here, the design is reviewed and the results of its first year on orbit are presented. Unique features of the radiometer include a large 6-m rotating reflector, fully polarimetric radiometer receiver with internal calibration, and radio-frequency interference detection and filtering hardware. The radiometer electronics are thermally controlled to achieve good radiometric stability. Analyses of on-orbit results indicate that the electrical and thermal characteristics of the electronics and internal calibration sources are very stable and promote excellent gain stability. Radiometer NEDT < 1 K for 17-ms samples. The gain spectrum exhibits low noise at frequencies >1 MHz and 1/f noise rising at longer time scales fully captured by the internal calibration scheme. Results from sky observations and global swath imagery of all four Stokes antenna temperatures indicate that the instrument is operating as expected.